Impact of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on attention, rumination and resting blood pressure in women with cancer: A waitlist-controlled study Tavis S. Campbell • Laura E. Labelle • Simon L. Bacon • Peter Faris • Linda E. Carlson Received: April 7, 2010 / Accepted: June 1, 2011 / Published online: June 12, 2011 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 Abstract The present study is a waitlist-controlled investigation of the impact of a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program on mindful attentiveness, rumination and blood pressure (BP) in women with cancer. Female post-treatment cancer patients were recruited from the MBSR program waitlist. Participants completed self- report measures of mindfulness and rumination and mea- sured casual BP at home before and after the 8-week MBSR program or waiting period. MBSR group partici- pants demonstrated higher levels of mindful attentiveness and decreased ruminative thinking following the interven- tion but no difference in BP, when compared to controls. In the MBSR group, decreases in rumination correlated with decreases in SBP and increases in mindful attention. When participants were assigned to ‘‘Higher BP’’ and ‘‘Lower BP’’ conditions based on mean BP values at week 1, ‘‘Higher BP’’ participants in the MBSR group (n = 19) had lower SBP at week 8 relative to the control group (n = 16). A MBSR program may be efficacious in increasing mindful attention and decreasing rumination in women with cancer. Randomized controlled trials are needed to evaluate an impact on clinically elevated BP. Keywords MBSR Á Cancer Á Meditation Á Mindfulness Á Rumination Á Blood pressure Introduction Due to recent trends in early detection and advances in treatment, a growing number of cancer patients are sur- viving long-term. For example, 89% of women diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States are estimated to survive beyond 5 years (Ries et al., 2007). Despite recent medical advances, acute stress at the time of cancer diag- nosis (Zabora et al., 2001) and chronic stress thereafter (Carlson et al., 2004) is common and is associated with anxiety, depression (Kissane et al., 2004), fatigue (Carlson et al., 2004), and sleep problems (Fortner et al., 2002). In addition to being at risk for emotional and physical symptoms, cancer patients are at significant risk for cardiac toxicity and damage as a result of primary treatments (i.e., chemotherapy and radiation) (Benvenuto et al., 2003; Erselcan et al., 2000; Meinardi et al., 2000; Meinardi et al., 2001; Vallebona, 2000). Cardiovascular side effects of primary cancer treatments may have a dramatic impact on quality of life and patient survival (Benvenuto et al., 2003). Thus, interventions that have the potential to beneficially impact psychological and cardiovascular functioning may hold value for cancer patients who are at increased risk for these problems. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a group psychosocial intervention consisting of mindfulness medi- tation practice and gentle yoga stretches, that has been applied within chronically ill populations, including This research is funded by the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Alliance (CBCRA), the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, and the Canadian Interdisciplinary Network for Complementary and Alternative Medicine Research. Preliminary results have been presented at the CBCRA Reasons for Hope conference (April 2008), Mind and Life Summer Research Institute (June 2007), American Psychosomatic Society meeting (March 2007), and the Canadian Interdisciplinary Network for Complementary and Alternative Medicine research symposium (November 2006). T. S. Campbell (&) Á L. E. Labelle Á S. L. Bacon Á P. Faris Á L. E. Carlson Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AL T2N 1N4, Canada e-mail: t.s.campbell@ucalgary.ca 123 J Behav Med (2012) 35:262–271 DOI 10.1007/s10865-011-9357-1