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Zooming in on mindfulness and gaming: the application of a brief, standardized, zoom-based, mindfulness intervention on videogame play as compared to a treatment as usual approach
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Zooming in on mindfulness and gaming: the application of a brief, standardized, zoom-based, mindfulness intervention on videogame play as compared to a treatment as usual approach
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ZOOMING IN ON MINDFULNESS AND GAMING:
THE APPLICATION OF A BRIEF, STANDARDIZED, ZOOM-BASED, MINDFULNESS
INTERVENTION ON VIDEOGAME PLAY AS COMPARED TO A TREATMENT AS
USUAL APPROACH
by
Jeffery Allan Newell
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(PSYCHOLOGY)
August 2021
Copyright 2021 Jeffery Allan Newell
ii
Acknowledgements
This project came to fruition due to contributions from many different people. Gerald
Davison and Marientina Gotsis, my advisors, provided encouragement support and belief in me
throughout this process. Yet, they also applied an unrelenting rigor with their feedback and their
high standards pushed me to become the best version of a scientist that I can be. Colin Ring, who
coordinated this project and took care of the day-to-day logistics, was essential to this work and a
fantastic teammate for me. The study personnel who helped collect the study’s data, Fiona
Cahill, Morgan Kuligowski, and Wendi Wu, were at all times reliable energetic and professional.
The members of my dissertation committee David Walsh, David Schwartz, and Dennis Wixon,
gave me plenty of their valuable time and modeled excellent professionalism. I learned from
these committee members simply from observing how they act as leaders in their fields. This
project would also not be possible without Justin Hummer, Laura Enriquez, Marielle Bello,
Esthelle Ewusi-Boisvert, and Kyla-Rose Walden, my lab-mates at USC. They sat through
countless presentations for this project, were insightful with their feedback, and always
encouraged me to keep pursuing this line of inquiry. Adam Lobel and Christina Lelon were both
so enthusiastic about this project from the earliest stages that their energy became infectious and
often fueled my own internal drive to keep going. Finally, thank you to Tia Dalupan-Wong for
providing the artwork for this project and helping recruit participants.
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... ii
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. vi
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... vii
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ viii
1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Mindfulness Overview .......................................................................................................... 3
1.2 Mindfulness-Based Interventions ......................................................................................... 6
1.3 Mindfulness-Based Interventions’ Emphasis on Practice ..................................................... 9
1.4 The Application of Mindfulness to Real-World Situations ................................................ 11
1.5 Empirical Support for Formal and Applied Mindfulness Practice ..................................... 15
1.6 The Problems with Mindfulness Practice ........................................................................... 16
1.7 How Applied Mindfulness May Address Problems with Practice ..................................... 18
1.8 Prior Research on Applied Mindfulness Practice ............................................................... 20
1.9 Videogame Play Overview ................................................................................................. 24
1.10 Self-Determination Theory and Videogame Play ............................................................. 26
1.11 Videogame Play and Mindfulness .................................................................................... 29
1.12 Present Study .................................................................................................................... 32
1.13 Aim 1: Assess the Impact of a Brief, Standardized Mindfulness Training Procedure ..... 33
1.14 Aim 2: Measure the Impact that Type of Activity Has on Outcome Measures ................ 34
1.15 Aim 3: Explore Differences in Outcomes for “Mindful” and “Natural” Videogame
Play ........................................................................................................................................... 35
2.0 Methods................................................................................................................................... 36
2.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................. 36
2.2 Study Design ....................................................................................................................... 36
2.3 Measures ............................................................................................................................. 37
2.3.1 Primary Results Measure: State-Based Mindfulness ................................................... 37
2.3.2 Secondary Results Measures: Intrinsic Motivation to Perform Task .......................... 39
2.3.3 Secondary Results Measures: Flow and Immersion .................................................... 40
2.3.4 Secondary Results Measures: Change in Affect as a Result of Performing the
iv
Study Task (Affect/Emotions) .............................................................................................. 42
2.3.5 Secondary Outcome Measures: Satisfaction, Personal Importance/Relevance,
Ease of Task, and Acceptability of the Intervention. ............................................................ 43
2.3.6 Secondary Outcome Measures: Acceptability of Mindfulness Intervention ............... 45
2.4 Participants .......................................................................................................................... 47
2.5 Study Procedure .................................................................................................................. 48
2.5.1 Pre-screening “Tech Check”. ....................................................................................... 49
2.5.2 Videogame Selection for each Participant. .................................................................. 49
2.5.3 Structure of Study Sessions. ........................................................................................ 53
2.5.4 General Structure of Mindfulness Training. ................................................................ 54
2.5.5 Mindfulness Instructions for Videogame Play Activity. ............................................. 56
2.5.7 Control Condition. ....................................................................................................... 59
2.5.8 Control Instructions for Laundry Folding Activity. ..................................................... 59
2.5.9 Control Instructions for Videogame Play Activity. ..................................................... 60
2.6 Participant Baseline and Demographic Information ........................................................... 62
2.7 Statistical Analysis Plan ...................................................................................................... 63
3.0 Results ..................................................................................................................................... 64
3.1 Ordering Effects .................................................................................................................. 65
3.2 Results for Aim 1: Mindfulness Training’s Impact on State-Based Mindfulness .............. 65
3.3 Results for Aim 2: Impact of “Type” of Activity on Mindfulness Practice ....................... 68
Mindful Videogame and Mindful Laundry Comparison for Secondary Measures. Intrinsic
Motivation Inventory (IMI). ..................................................................................................... 70
3.4 Results for Aim 3: How Does Training in Mindfulness Impact Videogame Play ............. 75
3.5 Other Results: A Brief Note About Mindful Laundry Folding Compared to Natural
Laundry Folding ........................................................................................................................ 77
4.0 Discussion ............................................................................................................................... 78
4.1 Applied Mindfulness Training Works to Increase State-Based-Mindfulness .................... 81
4.2 Interpretation of Mindful Videogame Play Versus Mindful Laundry Folding Results ...... 82
4.3 Interpretation of Results for Mindful Videogame Play Compared to Control
Videogame Play ........................................................................................................................ 88
4.4 Limitations .......................................................................................................................... 90
4.5 Future Directions ................................................................................................................ 92
References ..................................................................................................................................... 96
Appendices .................................................................................................................................. 108
v
Appendix A1 State Mindfulness Scale (SMS) ........................................................................ 108
Appendix A2 Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) ............................................................... 110
Appendix A3 Flow State Scale (FSS) ..................................................................................... 112
Appendix A4 Positive and Negative Affective Schedule – X (PANAS-X) ........................... 116
Appendix A5 Satisfaction, Importance/Relevance, Ease-of-Task .......................................... 118
Appendix A6 Acceptability of Intervention – Only for Intervention Group .......................... 119
Appendix B1 State Mindfulness Scale (SMS) description and items (+) subscales .............. 120
Appendix B2 Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) description and items (+) Subscales ...... 121
Appendix B3 Flow State Scale (FSS) description and items (+) subscales ............................ 122
Appendix B4 Positive and Negative Affective Schedule – X (PANAS-X) description
and items (+) subscales ........................................................................................................... 125
Appendix B5 Satisfaction, Importance/Relevance, Ease-of-Task description and items
(+) subscales ........................................................................................................................... 126
Appendix C1 Mindfulness Induction for Videogame Play Activity ...................................... 127
Appendix C2 Mindfulness Induction for Laundry Folding Activity ...................................... 130
Appendix C3 Control Condition Instructions for Videogame Play Activity .......................... 133
Appendix C4 Control Condition Instructions f or Laundry Folding Activity ........................ 135
Appendix D1 Summary of the Videogames and Videogame Platforms That Were Used
by Each Participant ................................................................................................................. 138
Appendix E1 All Study Outcome Means ................................................................................ 140
Appendix E2 ANOVA for Order Effects: Mindful Videogame Activity ............................... 143
Appendix E3 ANOVA for Order Effects: Mindful Laundry Folding Activity ...................... 144
Appendix E4 ANOVA for Group Differences: Mindful Laundry Folding and Control
Laundry Folding Activities ..................................................................................................... 145
vi
List of Tables
Table 1. Participant Demographics ............................................................................................... 63
Table 2. One-Way ANOVA scores for State Mindfulness Scale by Group (Mindfulness v
Control): Videogame Play and Laundry Folding activities .......................................................... 67
Table 3. t-test results for means of scores with statistically significant differences for
mindful videogame play and mindful laundry folding ................................................................. 69
Table 4. Frequencies and percentages for “Acceptability” questions about the mindfulness
intervention ................................................................................................................................... 75
Table 5. One-way ANOVA scores with significant differences by Group: Mindful
videogame play (Mindful VGP) and Control videogame play (Control VGP) ............................ 78
vii
List of Figures
Figure 1. American Mindfulness Research Association’s Summary of Mindfulness
Publications from years 1980 (0 publications) to 2020 (1153 publications) .................................. 2
Figure 2. State Mindfulness Scale (SMS); Mindful Videogame Versus Control Videogame ... 146
Figure 3. State Mindfulness Scale (SMS); Mindful Laundry Versus Control Laundry ............. 146
Figure 4. State Mindfulness Scale (SMS); Mindful Laundry Versus Mindful Videogame ....... 147
Figure 5. Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI); Mindful Videogame Versus Control
Videogame .................................................................................................................................. 147
Figure 6. Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI); Mindful Laundry Versus Mindful
Videogame .................................................................................................................................. 148
Figure 7. Flow State Scale (FSS); Mindful Laundry Versus Mindful Video Game (1 of 2) ...... 148
Figure 8. Flow State Scale (FSS); Mindful Laundry Versus Mindful Video Game (2 of 2) ...... 149
Figure 9. Percentage of Time “In the Zone”; Mindful Laundry Versus Mindful Videogame ... 149
Figure 10. Positive and Negative Affective Schedule – X (PANAS-X); Mindful Laundry
Versus Mindful Videogame ........................................................................................................ 150
Figure 11. Satisfaction, Importance/Relevance, Ease-of-Take; Mindful Videogame Versus
Control Videogame ..................................................................................................................... 150
Figure 12. Satisfaction, Importance/Relevance, Ease-of-Take; Mindful Videogame Versus
Mindful Laundry ......................................................................................................................... 151
Figure 13. Likelihood to Practice Study Activity Mindfully in the Future; Mindful Laundry
Versus Mindful Videogame ........................................................................................................ 151
Figure 14. Task Effectiveness in Training Mindfulness; Mindful Laundry Versus Mindful
Videogame .................................................................................................................................. 152
Figure 15. Preferred Study Activity to Practice Mindfulness in the Future; Mindful
Laundry Versus Mindful Videogame ......................................................................................... 152
viii
Abstract
Mindfulness is the ability to maintain a conscious awareness of the present moment in a
nonjudgmental way. This attention-based strategy has shown efficacy in treating a number of
different psychological disorders and has been integrated into a number of different
psychological interventions. The present study sought to investigate the impact of a mindfulness
training procedure in which participants were instructed to apply mindfulness principles to the
performance of two different activities, laundry folding and videogame play. To accomplish this,
123 participants were recruited to take part in a study on the “Habits of Gamers.” In order to
isolate the impact of applied mindfulness training, participants were randomized to either a
“mindfulness” or “control” condition in which “mindfulness” participants received a brief,
standardized training in mindfulness prior to the performance of two different activities. The
“control” participants were asked to perform the same study activities as they naturally do with
no mention of mindfulness. State-based mindfulness specified to the participants’ time
performing each study activity was assessed after the completion of each activity. Participants in
both study conditions also completed measures related to intrinsic motivation and flow following
each activity, and participants in the mindfulness condition answered additional questions about
how acceptable they found the mindfulness training to be. All participants completed a self-
report measure of affect, with pre to post-study-activity changes in emotions serving as another
secondary outcome in this study. Results found that the mindfulness training condition produced
significantly greater levels of state-based mindfulness for both study activities when compared to
the control condition. A t-test comparing mean scores for mindful videogame and mindful
laundry folding was also conducted and it revealed that both activities produced similar levels of
state-based mindfulness, but the mindful videogame play activity reported significantly greater
ix
levels of enjoyment, immersion, change in emotional affectivity, and acceptability when
compared to the mindful laundry folding activity. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA)
comparing mean scores for the mindful videogame play activity and the control videogame play
activity revealed that participants in the mindfulness condition reported significantly greater
levels of effort put forth during the activity. This comparison also revealed that mindful
videogame play was significantly more valued by participants than videogame play in the control
condition. Thus, the results of this study demonstrate that videogame play can enhance applied
mindfulness practice when compared to an everyday activity. The results also demonstrate that
applied mindfulness can enhance the experience of videogame play as compared to a natural
gaming condition. Taken together, the results of this study add to a growing body of literature
elucidating the potential benefits of utilizing the application of mindfulness to real-world
situations. Further, the results of this study suggest that applied mindfulness practice with an
enjoyable activity is not only as effective as practice with a more routine and everyday activity,
but it may actually serve as a more preferable vehicle for applied mindfulness practice. This is
due to the fact that participants reported enjoying the applied mindfulness practice more and
reported a greater likelihood to practice applied mindfulness in the future when it was applied to
videogame play as opposed to when it was applied to laundry folding. Future studies should
continue to evaluate the application of mindfulness to an assortment of real-world situations and
activities as well as further exploring how to apply mindfulness to videogame play.
Key Words: mindfulness, applied mindfulness, mindfulness practice, videogame play, brief
intervention, standardized intervention, enjoyment, gamer.
1
1.0 Introduction
Mindfulness is a conscious effort one makes to continuously direct one’s attention to the
present moment and to do so with an attitude of acceptance and openness. Based on Buddhist
principles of meditation, Jon Kabat-Zinn (1994) has formally defined mindfulness as, “paying
attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” (pg 4).
Mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) have captured the attention of the psychological and
scientific community. Over the past twenty years there has been an explosion of research into a
wide range of health benefits resulting from consistent practice with this attention-based strategy.
Figure 1 (American Mindfulness Research Association, 2021) provides a visual of the
pronounced jump in mindfulness literature in recent years. Yet, surprisingly, little is known
about what methods are most effective in training mindfulness. This is particularly true for how
to apply the meditative nature of mindfulness into real-world situations as well as during the
performance of everyday activities. Improving our knowledge about how to develop the most
effective forms of mindfulness training is important because such knowledge may enhance the
efficacy and effectiveness of future MBIs. Given the current popularity and wide proliferation of
MBIs, research that informs effective training strategies for these interventions is imperative.
Videogame play, an activity predicated on a human-computer interaction, is also of
concern to this study because videogames possess some conceptual overlaps with mindfulness.
For example, the interactive nature of videogames, where the game responds in real-time to the
commands of a user, help keep such users engaged and immersed in the present moment. Such
present-moment awareness is one key pillar of mindfulness. Another reason videogame play was
of interest to the present study was due to their massive popularity as an enjoyable activity.
According to the Electronic Software Association (ESA) there are more than 214 million
2
videogame players in the United States (ESA, 2020). People who play a minimum of three hours
of videogames per week, known as “gamers,” are roughly equal among the sexes (i.e., 59% are
male, 41% female) and age groups (i.e., 41% of gamers are 35+ years old, while 21% are under
the age 18), in terms of representation and the average age of a gamer is in the range of 35-44
years old (ESA, 2020). The popularity of videogame play is not surprising when one considers
that 79% of videogame players report that videogames provide stress relief and relaxation, 80%
report they are mentally stimulating, and 57% report that videogames bring joy to their lives
(ESA, 2020). Given the popularity of this activity, understanding the ways in which videogame
play may serve as a platform through which users can enhance their mental health could have a
beneficial impact on many people.
The current study has a number of aims, but the over-arching question this study meant to
address was, “what happens if we make mindfulness practice more enjoyable?” To achieve this,
Figure 1. American Mindfulness Research Association’s Summary of Mindfulness
Publications from years 1980 (0 publications) to 2020 (1153 publications)
3
the present study utilized videogame play as an activity to practice the application of core
mindfulness principles to a non-meditative activity. Specifically, the present study employed a
brief, standardized mindfulness training to a group of gamers with no prior training in
mindfulness. After the brief training participants were asked to play a videogame of their choice
and fold an assortment of their laundry in a “mindful” way. Results for participants who received
the mindfulness training were compared to a control group of gamer participants who were asked
to performed both study activities like they naturally would with no mention of mindfulness.
The results were meant to extend prior mindfulness literature in several ways. First, the
present study aimed to provide more evidence related to the immediate effects of a brief and
standardized mindfulness training. This was meant to better understand what factors may
enhance or hinder one’s experience learning and performing this approach to conscious attention.
Second, the present study aimed to evaluate how the application of mindfulness to an enjoyable
activity compared to when mindfulness was applied to a more routine and everyday activity.
This comparison was meant to elucidate how to more effectively apply mindfulness principles to
real-world, non-meditative contexts. Third, the present study aimed to assess what impact that a
mindfulness training would have on videogame play experience itself as compared to a control or
“natural” videogame play condition. This was meant to shed light on what, if any, benefits might
come from helping a gamer learn to play their videogame in a more mindful way. The
information gleaned from this study was intended to inform future interventions not only in the
realm of mindfulness but also in the domain of games-for-health literature.
1.1 Mindfulness Overview
Broadly, mindfulness relates to the quality through which one attends to the present moment
(e.g., Baer, 2003). In a popular and widely used mindfulness training manual, Germer, Sigel, &
4
Fulton (2016) outline three fundamental mindfulness principles: “What do mindfulness exercises
have in common? They cultivate the three key interdependent elements of mindfulness: (1)
awareness, (2) of present experience, (3) with acceptance ” (pg 116). The general framework of
“awareness” related to a “present-moment-experience” with an attitude of “acceptance” have
been identified as key constructs of mindfulness by others as well. For instance, Bishop and
colleagues (2004) posit there are two independent components of mindfulness. The first
component is the ability to intentionally self-regulate one’s attention with the goal of keeping
attention on the present moment. The second component entails maintaining an attitude of
acceptance, openness, and curiosity (e.g., Bishop et al., 2004). The idea that “present-moment
attention” and “acceptance” are two independent constructs within mindfulness was investigated
by Lutz, Slagter, Dunne, and Davidson (2008), who performed a neuroimaging scan of
experienced mindfulness adherents while they were meditating. The results revealed that
meditations related to “focused attention to the present moment” and meditations related to
“open monitoring” (or acceptance) of thoughts and feelings activated different neurological
regions in participants. Thus, the idea that mindfulness can be both an awareness of the present
moment as well as the act of maintaining a nonjudgmental attitude has come from a divergent
body of literature. With the shared properties of attention and acceptance, mindfulness-based
interventions have been taught and practices in myriad ways. However, a distinction between
conscious attention to the present moment on the one hand, and an open and accepting attitude
towards thoughts and feelings on the other, are essential elements that are commonly involved in
these kinds of interventions.
One aspect of mindfulness that is absent from the training approach employed in this study,
the spiritual element, deserves to be mentioned to help contextualize why the decision was made
5
not to include it in this study. Some mindfulness scholars have argued that the spiritual element
of mindfulness, those which come from Buddhist origins and are part of the eightfold path to
enlightenment, are an inseparable component of mindfulness practice (e.g., Purser & Milillo,
2015; Weick & Putnam, 2006). One argument for the inclusion of spiritual elements within
mindfulness training is that its exclusion has led to a factory-level production of mindfulness-
based interventions, with such mindfulness-based interventions sometimes referred to as
“McMindfulness” (Purser & Loy, 2013). It has been argued that these “McMindfulness”
interventions are problematic because they have been utilized for reasons that are actually
considered antithetical to the mindfulness that is described within a Buddhist framework (e.g.,
Purse, 2015; Purser & Milillo, 2015). For example, Purser & Mililli (2015) argue that many
mindfulness-based interventions have misappropriated mindfulness to help corporate powers
pacify workforces and promote toxic workplaces, just to name one problem with this more
secular approach to training mindfulness. There is undoubtably some merit to the argument that
mindfulness should follow a spiritual influence, yet, the present study made a decision not to do
so for a variety of reasons.
One of the foremost reasons the present study decided to forego the spiritual, Buddhist
element of mindfulness is because this secular orientation is more consistent with existing
mindfulness-based interventions that were designed for clinical populations (e.g., Baer, 2003),
which will be described in the next section. Since the present study is meant to inform
mindfulness-based interventions within a clinical psychology setting, it was important to utilize
existing training templates that have demonstrated treatment efficacy. Another reason the present
study utilized a more secular approach to mindfulness training is that there is some evidence that
suggests that such spiritual elements are not needed to produce beneficial results. For example an
6
online survey of 210 experienced mindfulness adherents revealed that religious beliefs and
prayers were less relevant to psychological adjustment than meditations centered on focused
attention, open-monitoring, and compassion-based meditations (e.g., Montero-Marin et al.,
2019). Thus, there is an established link between secular meditative practices and positive
psychological adjustment, and a spiritual component may not be needed for such positive effects
to take place. A final reason that the secular approach was utilized for the present study was
because it has been documented extensively that the most effective ways in which to integrate
the spiritual and ethical components of mindfulness into existing interventions is exceedingly
difficult and complex due to the abstract nature of those concepts (e.g., Chiesa, 2012). Given the
nebulous understanding about how to best integrate spirituality and ethics into mindfulness-
based interventions, as well as the abstract nature of such topics, such an element may present a
barrier to learning for adherents who are new to mindfulness practice. By focusing on two broad
aspects of mindfulness, attention and acceptance, while foregoing the additional and complex
aspect of spirituality and ethics, the current study’s goal was to make the mindfulness training as
parsimonious and flexible in application as was possible. Since this study was meant to inform
future mindfulness-based interventions for clinical populations, flexibility and parsimony in
application and dissemination would be advantageous for such future interventions.
1.2 Mindfulness-Based Interventions
Training in mindfulness has become increasingly popular because, in part, it possesses
transtheoretical and transdiagnostic applicability within the world of psychology and beyond. For
example, mindfulness principles have been implemented as part of many existing psychological
interventions including Cognitive-Based Therapies (e.g., Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, 2013),
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (e.g., Linehan, 1993), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (e.g.,
7
Luoma, Hayes, & Walser, 2007), and exposure-based therapies (e.g., Baer, 2015). Mindfulness-
Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a stand-alone mindfulness intervention that has also shown
an ability to improve a range of mental health issues (e.g., Grossman, Niemann, Schmidt, &
Walach, 2004). Not only have mindfulness-based therapies been integrated into a wide range of
psychotherapeutic modalities, they have been utilized to target and treat many different
psychological disorders. MBIs have demonstrated positive treatment efficacy for anxiety and
depression (e.g., Baer, 2003; Grossman, Niemann, Schmidt, & Walach, 2004), post-traumatic
stress (e.g., Follette, Palm, & Pearson, 2006), addictive behaviors (e.g., Bowen, Chawla, &
Grow, 2021), and borderline personality disorder (e.g., Elices et al., 2016). Moreover, MBIs have
shown beneficial effects across age groups from children (e.g., Burke, 2009), to adults (e.g.,
Virgili, 2015), to older adults (e.g., Young & Baime, 2010). In addition to its implementation
within many therapeutic modalities and wide range of treatment targets, MBIs have been
implemented in numerous settings including individual and group psychotherapy, web or phone-
based applications, self-help books, workshops, weekend retreats, and more recently virtual
reality environments and social media. In sum, mindfulness has been integrated into many
therapeutic modalities, to address a variety of treatment targets, and has been implemented
and/or delivered in many different settings. Stated another way, mindfulness seems to be an
incredibly flexible intervention strategy and this fact may help explain its current popularity.
Such flexibility in application was one reason it was chosen for the present study.
Unfortunately, there are a few shortcomings in the mindfulness literature that potentially
undermine some of the findings from MBIs. The first is a well-documented over-reliance on
long-term outcome studies, many of which lacked a control condition (e.g., Brown, Ryan, &
Creswell, 2007a; 2007b; Hanley et al., 2015). This lack of controlled, laboratory-based
8
experiments that can measure the immediate effects of different training methods is problematic
because, as Davison and Lazarus (1995) observed, psychotherapy intervention techniques can be
effective for reasons that have nothing to do with their proposed change theories. For example,
some individual characteristics of the therapists themselves like understanding, warmth, and
encouragement have explained some of the positive changes documented in long-term
randomized clinical trials (RCTs), yet these kinds of “common factors” that explain therapeutic
improvements have little to do with the strategies or techniques of the actual intervention being
utilized (e.g., Lambert, Shapiro, & Lamb, 1986). Another example of the shortcoming of long-
term RCTs are the low fidelity rates reported in such studies. Specifically, it has been well
documented that many therapists will deviate from the manuals or protocols of an RTC (e.g.,
Lambert & Bergin, 1994). In addition to a nebulous understanding about what factors mediated
changes, long-term RCTs also fail to identify ideographic variables that may be disproportionally
responsible for positive or negative results (e.g., Beutler, 1997; Davison & Rosen, 2000).
An over-reliance in long-term clinical trials in the mindfulness literature is not just
problematic due to the shortcomings of RCT-based designs, it also fails to take advantage of
what kinds of information is obtained from short-term, experimental studies. One such advantage
of an experimental study is that it allows for more strictly controlled manipulation of an
independent variable of interest. When an independent variable has been isolated through
experimental manipulation and the outcomes are compared to a control group, with participants
randomly assigned to each group, differences in outcomes allow for the best assessment of what
kind of impact an independent variable had on participants. These kinds of short-term
experimental designs also reduce the chances that a confounding variable is responsible for
changes, such as the common factors of therapists mentioned earlier. A step that can be taken to
9
address the over-reliance on long-term RCTs in the literature is by evaluating the immediate
impact that different mindfulness training strategies produce (e.g., Hanley et al., 2015;
Mahmood, Hopthrow, & Randsley de Moura, 2016). The present study utilized a short-term
design to evaluate the immediate impact of a standardized mindfulness training prior to the
performance of two different activities. One of the independent variables that was isolated for
this study was “mindfulness,” and study outcomes for participants randomized to a mindfulness
training group were compared to a control group who received no such training. Another
independent variable within this study was type of activity where one study session required the
performance of an enjoyable task (i.e., videogame play) and another session required the
performance of a routine, everyday task (i.e., laundry folding). Thus, the two independent
variables in this study are mindfulness versus control and videogame play versus laundry
folding. One goal of this experimental design was to help elucidate how participants respond to
specific training methods, which may help contribute to a better understanding of how to make
MBIs more effective.
As is the case with most psychotherapeutic interventions, the actual change mechanisms
are poorly understood. A full discussion about what factors have been identified as mediating
change within MBIs is beyond the scope of this paper but see the following studies for further
reading on this topic (Bishop et al., 2004; Brown, Ryan, & Creswell, 2007a; Chiesa &
Malinowski, 2011; Gu, Strauss, Bond, & Cavanagh, 2015; Shapiro, Carlson, Astin, and
Freedman, 2006; Weinstein, Brown, & Ryan, 2009; Williams & Kabat-Zinn, 2011).
1.3 Mindfulness-Based Interventions’ Emphasis on Practice
There is a near consensus in the mindfulness training literature that in order to learn
mindfulness, consistent practice and repetition are required. In this context, “practice” refers to
10
an activity that is done with the express purpose of improving a targeted skill. In the world of
clinical psychology practice is typically thought of as the between-session homework
assignments that are utilized during the course of therapy or related to some specific intervention
(e.g., listen to one guided meditation and perform one mindful chore every day). Brown and
Ryan (2003) state that mindfulness should not be thought of as a short-term fix for problems, but
something that can benefit people only if consistent practice is maintained long-term.
Instructions for therapists in how to get their clients to practice mindfulness daily can be found in
many training manuals (e.g., Kabat-Zinn, 2013; Kabat-Zinn & Hanh, 2009; Williams et al.,
2014). Some even consider mindfulness practice so imperative to learning that such practice is
framed as a lifelong endeavor in need of constant refinement, as opposed to a skill that can ever
be mastered (e.g., Germer, Siegel, & Fulton, 2013). Jon Kabat-Zinn (Full Catastrophe Living;
2013) calls the practice of mindfulness the most fundamental element to learning mindfulness.
As a consequence of the importance of practice, much emphasis within mindfulness-based
interventions (MBIs) is placed on enhancing participants’ motivation and engagement in
mindfulness-based practice. In discussing how to help recent clients maintain a habit of daily
mindfulness practice Segal, Williams, and Teasdale (2018) in the book Mindfulness-Based
Cognitive Therapy for Depression advise clinicians to foster regular, daily practice in their
clients. They further state: “There is something about the ‘everydayness’ of the practice (no
matter how short) that is important. Continuity builds and sustains motivation and momentum…
It is like learning a foreign language: It is better to keep speaking at every opportunity and on a
regular basis” (pg. 375-376) (Segal, Williams & Teasdale, 2018). B. H. Gunaratana in
Mindfulness in Plain English (2010) also asserts that the integration of mindfulness into
everyday activities is an essential component to mastering the practice: “In the beginning, it is
11
very difficult to keep this deliberately slow pace during most regular activities, but skill grows
with time. Profound realizations occur during sitting meditation, but even more profound
revelations can take place when we really examine our own inner workings in the midst of day-
to-day activities” (pg 45). Gunaratana goes on to explain that the way to examine one’s inner
workings is by slowing down one’s actions in order to focus on each nuanced move required to
perform a given activity, like feeling one’s elbow move as she/he goes to take a sip of a drink
(e.g., Gunaratana, 2010). Germer, Siegel & Fulton, authors of Mindfulness in Psychotherapy
(2013), similarly emphasize that daily practice and the application of mindfulness to everyday
activities is key to getting the most out of this activity. As evidenced by these authors, practice is
a pillar of MBIs. The need to flexibly apply a mindful approach into a wide range of activities,
including everyday activities, is nearly ubiquitous in the mindfulness training literature and is
unquestionably a goal of most MBIs. Given the importance of practice, the present study was
designed, in part, to better understand how to enhance the intentional “practice” of mindfulness.
Empirical evidence supports the importance of mindfulness practice as well and will be covered
shortly. First, an understanding of the distinction between “formal” mindfulness and the
application of mindfulness real-world situations is needed.
1.4 The Application of Mindfulness to Real-World Situations
While the term mindfulness can often conjure images of serene meditation, it is important
to remember that one goal of this practice is to be able to apply mindfulness principles to real-
world situations. In order to help practitioners generalize their meditative skills to a variety of
contexts, frequent practice of the application of mindfulness to everyday activities is
recommended. A distinction is often made between “formal” and “informal” mindfulness in
order to distinguish between two different categories of mindfulness practice (e.g., Germer,
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Siegel, & Fulton, 2013; Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, 2018). Formal mindfulness practice is best
thought of as “meditation” in the classic sense wherein practice is considered utilizing traditional
meditations like deep breathing, body scans, sitting meditations, progressive muscle relaxation,
and guided visualizations with the express purpose of improving one’s ability to be mindful.
Informal mindfulness practice, in contrast, entails the performance of almost any given activity
with a “mindful” attitude or intention. In other words, informal practice requires one to sustain a
purposeful present-moment focus (with a nonjudgmental attitude) during the performance of
almost any activity. As Germer, Siegel and Fulton (2013) explain, “Any exercise that alerts us to
the present moment, with acceptance, cultivates mindfulness” (pg 14). Williams et al. (2014)
explain further what informal practice entails:
To cultivate mindfulness in your daily life-what we have been calling “informal
practice”—you might try bringing moment-to-moment awareness to routine
activities such as brushing your teeth, showering, drying your body, getting
dressed, eating, driving, or taking out the garbage. The list of possibilities is
endless, but the point is simply to zero-in on knowing what you are doing as you
are actually doing it and on what you are thinking and feeling from moment to
moment as well. You may find it helpful just to pick out one routine activity each
week, such as brushing your teeth, and see if you can remember to be fully with
the activity as you do it, every time you do it, as best you can. (pg 233)
In other words, informal practice, as defined by Williams and colleagues, relates to the way in
which one approaches a given task or activity and emanates from a foundation of formal
mindfulness skills. Perhaps the most succinct distinction between “formal” and “informal”
mindfulness comes from Birtwell, Williams, van Marwijk, and Armitage (2019), who stated:
While there are no widely agreed definitions of formal and informal practice,
formal mindfulness practice can be considered to take place when practitioners
specifically set aside time to engage in mindfulness meditation practices such as
the body scan, sitting meditation, and mindful movement. Informal mindfulness
practice involves weaving mindfulness into existing routines through engaging in
mindful moments and bringing mindful awareness to everyday activities, such as
mindful eating or mindfully washing the dishes. (pg 90)
13
While clarifying the exact distinctions between formal and informal practice is not a central
concern for the present study, it is important to note that there may be an assumption in these
definitions that formal practice is required for informal applications in mindfulness to take place.
Additionally, the exact way in which one should practice mindfulness informally has not been
operationalized or developed to the extent that formal practice strategies have. Given the
underdeveloped nature of “informal mindfulness” the present study will refrain from using this
term to capture the mindfulness procedure that was employed. Instead, the present study will
make a distinction between formal, meditative practice as described above and “applied
mindfulness,” which will represent the application of formal mindfulness principles to real-world
activities and situations. To be clear, the present study was constructed to evaluate an approach
to training participants in applied mindfulness. There were no elements of formal mindfulness in
the methods or procedures for this study.
The way in which mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) commonly direct their
participants to apply mindfulness to everyday activities lacks specific instructions or details on
how to do so. In one of the best-selling books on self-directed mindfulness training, The
Happiness Trap, Russ Harris (2011) suggests that to improve mindfulness in daily life one
should, “Focus attention on your daily activities—such as brushing your teeth, brushing your
hair, washing up, or putting on your shoes. Bring mindfulness to each activity” (pg 224).
Germer, Sigel, & Fulton (2013) suggest the following guidelines for applied mindfulness
practice:
There are countless mindfulness strategies that can be designed to fit the unique
needs of a given patient or practitioner. We can cultivate mindfulness by sitting
quietly, washing the dishes, doing psychotherapy; just about any activity can be
done mindfully. The [mindfulness] program, for example, cultivates mindfulness
while lying down, sitting, doing yoga exercises, walking, standing, and eating. (pg.
116)
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Steve Hayes, author of Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life: The New Acceptance and
Commitment Therapy (2005), also suggests that persistent practice throughout the day with a
wide range of activities is one of the most important elements in mindfulness training. Indeed,
calls for mindfulness to be integrated into everyday activities can be traced all the way back to
Thich Nhat Hanh (1975), who asserted that the general goal of mindfulness should be to engage
more fully with all aspects of life, including mundane activities like walking or washing dishes.
One well-known example of this concept would be the raisin exercise, in which the process of
eating a raising is slowed down and in order to allow one to attend to the sensory experience of
eating in order to fully savor the experience (e.g., Hanh & Cheung, 2010). Jon Kabat-Zinn,
widely considered a prominent expert in mindfulness, also provides an overly broad framework
for how to integrate mindfulness practice into one’s everyday activities in his best-selling book
Full Catastrophe Living (2013):
In the same way that it is possible to be mindful whenever we are walking, not
just when we are practicing walking meditation, we can attempt to bring moment-
to-moment attention to the tasks, experiences, and encounters of ordinary living,
such as setting the table, eating, washing the dishes, doing the laundry, cleaning
the house, taking out the garbage, taking the car in to be fixed or fixing it
ourselves, riding a bike, taking the subway, getting on a bus, talking on the phone,
hugging, kissing, touching, making love, taking care of people who depend on us,
going to work, working, or just sitting on the front steps or in the backyard. If you
can name something or even feel it, you can be mindful of it. (pg. 133)
It seems clear that “mindfulness” and “practice” are intertwined, but the way in which to achieve
competence in the application of mindfulness to non-meditation contexts has very few guidelines
or directives in how to do so. An aim of this study was to extend the literature in how to better
operationalize the process of applied mindfulness practice.
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1.5 Empirical Support for Formal and Applied Mindfulness Practice
Empirical studies support the claim that practice is key to learning mindfulness. A meta-
analysis of mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy studies
confirmed that compliance with mindfulness homework was associated with greater symptom
improvement (Parsons et al., 2017). Interestingly, the Parsons et al. (2017) review found that, in
spite of the positive effects homework completion demonstrated, most participants completed
less homework than was recommended by each intervention. Carmody and Baer (2008) found a
significant, positive association between the amount one practiced and positive outcomes.
Another finding was that participants in their study reported that they practiced the formal
mindfulness as well as the application of mindfulness to everyday activities on their own, yet,
both kinds of mindfulness practice were performed less often than was recommended by the
intervention (Carmody & Baer, 2008). Further, Carmody and Baer (2009) evaluated the length of
“class” time or total time spent in-session across mindfulness-based interventions and the results
revealed that at-home practice was more important for the facilitation of positive changes than
the length of in-class time during an intervention. This finding has been supported in other
studies as well (e.g., Carmody & Baer, 2008). Thus, although the benefits of mindfulness
practice seem clear, getting new trainees to actually practice is a challenge. Some other examples
of outcomes related to mindfulness homework include Huppert & Johnson (2010), who
conducted a MBI within a classroom setting and found a positive association between increases
in wellbeing and amount of at-home practice that took place. To summarize, the need to practice
mindfulness has been postulated by most MBIs, and this assertion has been supported by
empirical evidence that links mindfulness practice with improved outcomes. Unfortunately, there
currently exists several barriers and obstacles to helping promote mindfulness practice.
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1.6 The Problems with Mindfulness Practice
One barrier to effective mindfulness practice is that, as many mindfulness specialists will
attest, formal meditation techniques can be difficult, boring, and frustrating to learn for a
newcomer. As Mark Williams et al. (2014) state, “a session or two of dripping into [mindfulness-
based] meditation may not be useful in the long term. Mindfulness meditation can feel exciting
and illuminating at times, but it can also feel downright boring, especially in the early stages,
until we learn how to work with mind states such as boredom” (pg 229). Williams et al. (2014)
go even further when they describe what they communicate to participants in their 8-week
mindfulness course, “it is important to remember that you don’t have to find the practice
enjoyable. In fact, you don’t have to like it at all. The challenge is just to take it on for eight
weeks, following instructions in as wholehearted a way as you can manage, suspending
judgement along the way” (pg 231). Germer, Siegel, and Fulton (2013) provide a nice
articulation of the difficulties newcomers’ can encounter with practice during a mindfulness-
based intervention:
Boredom and the resulting wish to quit are common obstacles at the
beginning of meditation practice. When these arise, patients are instructed
to make “boredom” or “wanting to quit” the object of awareness.
Paradoxically, this can help make the practice more interesting. Another
obstacle is self-judgment—“I am not doing this right.” Self-judgment
can also be made an object of awareness, perhaps by counting
how many times in a given period of time self-judging thoughts appear. (pg 128)
These authors illustrate that there has been an acquiescence to the fact that mindfulness training
will inevitably evoke boredom and frustration from the beginners. This is problematic because if
practice is such a critical element of mindfulness, every effort should be made to figure out how
to enhance and optimize mindfulness practice techniques.
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In spite of the importance of mindfulness practice, and the empirical data that has
established a positive correlation between quantity and quality of practice and improved mental
health outcomes, there persists an idea that negative experiences are an almost inevitable part of
mindfulness practice for newcomers. Unfortunately, this idea stems from more than anecdotal
observations from mindfulness teachers and scholars. In a qualitative summary of experiential
challenges associated with meditation practice, 30 male meditators were interviewed about their
difficulties with learning and practicing meditation. Some of the themes that emerged were that
participants felt meditation was too difficult, physically uncomfortable, boring, repetitive, and
too demanding on their time (Lomas, Cartwright, Edginton, & Ridge, 2015). The idea that
mindfulness can be difficult to learn was supported by Anderson, Suresh, & Farb (2019), who
reviewed and summarized mindfulness training difficulties and found that time constraints,
frustration, physical and emotional discomfort, and boredom were among the most common
barriers to mindfulness practice. Willoughby Britton (2019) has suggested that for people high in
negative self-focused attention formal meditation can actually evoke extremely negative
experiences that may serve to exacerbate their mental health problems. For more reading on the
struggles that people report in learning mindfulness, see the following papers (Allen, Bromley,
Kuyken, & Sonnenberg, 2009; Hindman, Glass, Arnkoff, & Maron, 2015; Martinez, Kearney,
Simson, Felleman, Bernardi, & Sayre, 2015; Moore & Martin, 2015; Morgan, Simpson, &
Smith, 2015).
The fact that many people report that they struggle with issues like boredom and
frustration while learning and practicing formal mindfulness techniques creates certain problems
for MBIs. For example, as many as 50% of mindfulness practitioners report falling asleep during
formal meditation exercises (Birtwell et al., 2019). Delmonte (1988) taught a group of outpatient
18
participants who were referred to therapy for relaxation training how to meditate. They were
taught to meditate twice each day for 10-20 minutes. After a 24-month follow up 54% of
participants reported they had quit the practice of meditation. This is relevant to the present study
because it suggests that formal mindfulness and meditation may not be a good fit for some
people. Consequently, the application of mindfulness principles to a variety of activities may not
simply be an adjunct or complimentary piece to formal mindfulness practice but may in fact
serve as an important alternative to formal mindfulness practice for those who cannot or will not
engage in more traditional, formal meditation exercises (e.g., Hanley et al., 2015; Hanley, Abell,
Osborn, Roehrig, & Canto, 2016). There is some support in the literature for this idea. For
example, a group of participants who were new to mindfulness were surveyed about their
practice habits after several months of training. Among the participants who reported that they
practiced mindfulness every day, the utilization of applied mindfulness to activities like bird-
watching, drinking coffee, and walking the dog were more frequent than the utilization of formal
meditations for practice (e.g., Birtwell et al., 2019). The results of the Birtwell et al. study (2019)
suggest that applied mindfulness pay be a key ingredient to foster sustained, daily, long-term
mindfulness practice.
1.7 How Applied Mindfulness May Address Problems with Practice
Some authors have suggested that utilizing an approach to mindfulness training that
prioritizes the application of mindfulness to everyday activities would be a key factor in
improving one’s motivation for and engagement with mindfulness practice. Ke Zhang (2018) has
suggested that applied mindfulness, particularly with a pleasant or pleasurable activity, may be
optimal for the beginning stages of mindfulness training because such engagement with pleasant
activities would, in theory, make practice more desirable to perform. This would, in turn,
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encourage more practice to take place. Zhang (2018) specifically points to music and athletics as
two activities that fit this description. Others have also called for more attention in mindfulness
research be paid to the connection between mindfulness and athletic performance (e.g., Birrer,
Röthlin, & Morgan, 2012). Bühlmayer et al., (2017) performed a meta-analysis of mindfulness-
based interventions in athletes and found, across studies, applying mindfulness to sports practice
can enhance core mindfulness skills on the one hand, and improve performance in the sport on
the other. Zhang (2018) has proposed that activities that require mastery through repetition, like
athletics and music, are ideal for applied mindfulness because of their ability to produce a flow
state, which shares the property of present-moment-engagement with mindfulness. Flow, the
state of being completely immersed within an activity when the challenge of the activity matches
the skill level of the person performing the activity, will be explained further in section 1.11
“Videogame play and Mindfulness.” For now, it is important to remember that since practice is
such a critical aspect of cultivating mindfulness, the use of “pleasant activities” as a vehicle to
practice mindfulness warrants further attention.
In addition to testing the feasibility of an approach to mindfulness training that utilizes
applied mindfulness in lieu of formal meditation, another aim of the present study was to explore
the impact that the activity itself had upon applied mindfulness. Specifically, the present study
utilized a mindfulness training prior to the performance of a routine, everyday activity (i.e.,
folding laundry) as well as a more enjoyable and intrinsically motivating activity (i.e.,
videogame play). In other words, the present study wanted to know whether the type of activity
utilized to perform applied mindfulness impacted study outcomes. This is due to the fact that the
application of mindfulness to real-world situations necessitates an ability to apply such a mindful
approach to a wide range of activities. Moreover, the term “activity” is overly broad and requires
20
more specification within applied mindfulness literature. It stands to reason that some activities
may be better suited for applied mindfulness practice than others (e.g., Zhang, 2018). Hanley et
al., (2015) articulated the potential advantage of developing a more effective way to utilize the
application of mindfulness to everyday activities for practice:
It may also be that informal practices are more accessible to a wider range of
people as they may appear more secularized, carrying fewer religious
associations. Furthermore, informal practices could conceivably be incorporated
into any activity, from leisure pursuits to vocational responsibilities. Yet, how
mindfulness interacts with daily living tasks or if daily living tasks could be used
as mindful practices has not been directly addressed by the scientific literature.
(pg 1096)
The present study was designed to better understand how to apply mindfulness to everyday life,
as Hanley et al. (2015) and others have called for. One independent variable in this study was a
brief training in applied mindfulness that was compared to a control group, and the other
independent variable was “type” of activity, which was included as a way to address the question
of how to best apply mindfulness to everyday settings. Since one of the applied mindfulness
activities in this study was videogame play and the other was folding laundry, a direct could be
made between outcomes related to applied mindfulness with an enjoyable activity (i.e.,
videogame play) and applied mindfulness with a more everyday activity (i.e., folding laundry).
This may provide evidence about what kinds of activities are best suited to practice the
application of mindfulness.
1.8 Prior Research on Applied Mindfulness Practice
It is more than surprising that the application of mindfulness to non-meditative and
everyday activities has not received more attention in the literature since it is an important part of
many mindfulness-based interventions. The present study was constructed, in part, to address the
salient shortcoming in the current mindfulness literature, which relates to a lack of research on
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how to more effectively apply mindfulness practice strategies or activities (e.g., Hanley et al.,
2015). Within the literature there seems to be an assumption that applied mindfulness is the “next
step” in mindfulness training wherein one learns to apply more formal mindfulness strategies
into everyday activities only after one learns formal mindfulness. In other words, existing
literature assumes that in order to practice applied mindfulness in real-world situations one must
be proficient in formal mindfulness (or meditation). This tacit assumption seems to be that there
is a natural progression from formal mindfulness skills to an eventual ability to apply such skills
to other situations. Empirical evidence suggests that this tacit assumption may be unfounded. A
study that looked specifically into the relationship between formal mindfulness practice (a sitting
meditation) and the ability to apply mindfulness into their everyday lives concluded that there
was only a very small and insignificant correlation between formal practice and mindfulness in
everyday lives (e.g., Thompson & Waltz, 2007).
As a consequence of an over-reliance on the evaluation of formal mindfulness techniques
at the expense of assessing applied mindfulness as a training tool, we know almost nothing about
the extent to which applied mindfulness is actually essential to learning mindfulness. Moreover,
we do not know how applied mindfulness practice might serve as a stand-alone method to learn
mindfulness. Is formal mindfulness training really necessary to perform applied mindfulness?
The present study attempted to take a step towards elucidating the answer to this question by
assessing the impact of a mindfulness training approach in which participants new to
mindfulness were asked to apply mindfulness principles to the performance of two different
activities. By comparing results of the performance of these activities in a mindful way to a
control group performing the same activities we can begin to understand the feasibility of applied
mindfulness as a front-line approach to training. In other words, since all of the participants in
22
the study had no prior training in mindfulness, and since there was no meditation or formal
mindfulness techniques utilized in the study, differences in outcomes between the mindfulness
and control groups in study outcomes can be attributed to the applied mindfulness approach.
Such information will help assess whether the use of applied mindfulness as a front-line training
method may be a viable way to train mindfulness in from the beginning stages of an intervention,
or, as a substitute for formal mindfulness and not just an adjunct-to formal therapy.
There are two other problems that this oversight in applied mindfulness research has
created. One, it makes it difficult to understand and develop optimal training methods if one
important component of mindfulness training (i.e., how to apply mindfulness principles outside
of formal practices) has no literature to support its efficacy or guide practitioners in how to best
train adherents in this aspect of mindfulness. Two, it leaves us with a blind spot about the way in
which people are generalizing mindfulness training into their everyday activities, which, as
outlined earlier, is largely the point of mindfulness training. In addition to a general oversight in
research related to the application of mindfulness to everyday activities, the application of
mindfulness to activities for leisure and enjoyment seems to be neglected in the literature
altogether. To address these problems the present study evaluated whether or not all applied
mindfulness activities are created equal. Specifically, this study assessed whether or not an
everyday activity like folding laundry cultivates mindful awareness of the present moment in the
same way as a more enjoyable activity like videogame play (for a population of gamers). To
achieve this, a mindfulness training procedure was applied to both videogame play and laundry
folding and a direct comparison of the participants’ experience applying mindfulness to each
activity was made. In doing so, this study was able to evaluate whether type-of-activity led to
any differences in outcomes. Since little work has been done to evaluate a construct like
23
“enjoyment” and how it might serve to enhance or hinder mindfulness training, we may be
overlooking a powerful tool to help people learn this strategy. The decision to use videogame
play as a proxy for enjoyment in this study will be outlined shortly.
One of the first studies to systematically investigate the effectiveness of applied
mindfulness as a stand-alone vehicle to train and practice mindfulness, Hanley et al. (2015)
asked participants to wash dishes “mindfully” for seven minutes following a brief introduction to
mindfulness. In comparison to a control group, participants in the mindful dishwashing condition
reported more “presence” or attention to the task-at-hand, greater positive emotion increases and
negative emotion decreases from pre- to post-task, and a sensation that time moved slower (i.e.,
they over-estimated how long they spent washing dishes). The Hanley et al. (2015) study
demonstrated that an everyday activity (i.e., dishwashing) was able to create temporary increases
in mindfulness (i.e., level of mindfulness during the dishwashing task). The present study aims to
build upon the work of Hanley et al. (2015) in several important ways. First, Hanley and
colleagues utilized a routine and everyday task as a vehicle for applied mindfulness practice.
Although their mindfulness instructions and dishwashing activity proved effective at producing
temporary increases in state-based mindfulness, they treated “informal activities” in an overly
broad fashion. Are all applied mindfulness activities created equal? The present paper
hypothesized that they are not. To address this shortcoming the present study partially replicated
Hanley et al.’s (2015) study design by utilizing a brief, standardized mindfulness training prior to
the completion of an everyday activity (i.e., laundry folding). However, the present study sought
to extend the results of Hanley et al.’s (2015) study by adding an additional application of
mindfulness to an activity that is considered enjoyable.
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To summarize this section, mindfulness is both a conscious effort to pay attention to the
present moment and to do so with an attitude of openness and acceptance. Within mindfulness-
based interventions (MBIs), practice is considered a critical method to learn this attention-based
strategy. Yet, mindfulness practice can be difficult due to factors like boredom and frustration.
Although a distinction between formal mindfulness and the application of mindfulness to real-
world situations is often made in the literature, applied mindfulness is considered to be the result
of formal mindfulness practice. As a result, little attention has been paid within the literature as
to how one should most effectively practice applied mindfulness with few directions or
guidelines in existence that relate to how one should practice applied mindfulness. Not only is
little known about the best ways to practice applied mindfulness, the use of applied mindfulness
for enjoyable activities has been ignored in the literature. This is unfortunate because applied
mindfulness practice has the potential to improve mindfulness practice adherence. Applied
mindfulness may also have utility as a stand-alone training strategy to provide an alternative for
people who struggle with formal meditation. The few studies that have begun to operationalize
and apply mindfulness training to everyday activities have failed to assess how different types of
activities might impact such an application. One central aim of this study was to further
investigate the way in which applied mindfulness practice might be better utilized as a
mindfulness training strategy. Additionally, the study aimed to better understand how a construct
like “enjoyment” might impact a mindfulness training practice session.
1.9 Videogame Play Overview
Prior to the introduction of the videogame literature that is relevant to this study it is
important to first define videogames. One formal definition that has been proposed for
videogame play is, “Videogaming can be characterised as an affective encounter during which
25
the capacities of the player and the capacities of the technology are altered” (pg. 4, Southerton,
2014). In essence, videogame play is a bi-directional relationship in which the capacities of the
player can alter the game itself, and the game can, in turn, alter the capacities of the player (e.g.,
Przybylski, Rigby, & Ryan, 2010; Sherry, 2004; Southerton, 2014). At its core, videogame play
is an interaction that takes place between a human and a computer. The bi-directionality of this
interaction is important to keep in mind because both the player and the videogame itself possess
properties that can enhance or hinder the gameplay experience. For example, a videogame that is
exceedingly difficult to play can cause a player to feel angry and frustrated, whereas a
videogame that is exceedingly simplistic and easy to play may cause a player to feel boredom
(e.g., Nah, Eschenbrenner, Zeng, Telaprolu, & Sepehr, 2014). Boredom from a non-challenging
game or frustration from a too-challenging game can occur regardless of how motivated or
enthusiastic a player was to play such games (e.g., Nah, Eschenbrenner, Zeng, Telaprolu, &
Sepehr, 2014; Sherry, 2004). Thus, the design and mechanics of a videogame can impact a
player in a number of ways.
Conversely, the players themselves are an important factor in videogame play because, “a
game does not exist without the player” (pg. 90, Mäyrä & Ermi, 2011). Underscoring the
importance of the player in the enjoyment of a game, it has been demonstrated that gratification
and enjoyment during human-computer interactions are highest when digital media is matched or
tailored to the cognitive strengths and weaknesses of an individual user (e.g., Sherry, 2004). Said
another way, a player is most likely to enjoy a videogame experience when a videogame can
most closely provide challenges that an individual player is cognitively equipped to navigate and
succeed. Consequently, enjoyable videogame experiences are highly subjective and can vary
greatly from person to person. For example, an experienced and skilled gamer may enjoy a
26
highly challenging and action-packed game whereas a less experienced gamer may enjoy a game
that is slower in pace and allows for more exploration. In order to account for such individual
variability in skill level and general videogame preferences the present study allowed each
participant to select their own videogame to play in the study. This decision was made to reduce
such individual differences in skill levels and preferences. The decision to allow participants to
select their own videogame will be explained further in section 2.5.2.
There are two predominate reasons videogame play was selected as a proxy for
enjoyment in the application of mindfulness for this study. The first reason is that videogame
play is an activity that has a well-established ability to be intrinsically motivating and enjoyable
for those who engage in it. Such intrinsic motivation was important in the representation of
“enjoyable” activities because of the robust body of literature that supports the connection
between enjoyment and intrinsic motivation. This body of literature will be outlined in the next
section. A second reason videogame play was selected for this study is that there is an
established conceptual overlap between videogame play and mindfulness, particularly as it
relates to engagement and attention to the present moment. The overlap between mindfulness,
videogames, and engagement in the present moment will be further explained in section 1.11.
1.10 Self-Determination Theory and Videogame Play
To this point the study has detailed how practice is important to the improvement of
one’s mindfulness abilities, and MBIs have had difficulties promoting long-term mindfulness
practice. One possible avenue to improve the likelihood one will engage in mindfulness practice
long-term is to explore factors that might increase one’s motivation to practice. Although there
have been many theories proposed as to how to maximize one’s motivation for a given activity,
this study focused on a theory of human motivation referred to as Self-Determination Theory
27
(SDT) (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000; Ryan, & Deci, 2000a, 2000b; Gagné & Deci, 2005). SDT
asserts that when an activity is performed for its own sake, or the activity provides some inherent
sense of satisfaction, it is intrinsically motivated. When an activity is performed to achieve some
aim or avoid a punishment it is extrinsically motivated. Within this framework, individuals feel
most motivated to engage in activities they autonomously pursue for enjoyment (i.e., do it for its
own sake), derive a feeling of competence or satisfaction from, or help them feel connected to
others (e.g., Deci & Ryan, 2000a). The most succinct way to understand SDT is that humans are
most motivated to engage in activities they like. Many studies that have operationalized intrinsic
motivation have found empirical support for the assertion that autonomy, competence, and
relatedness (the pillars of SDT) are among the most powerful stimulants to motivate engagement
in an activity or endeavor (e.g., Deci & Ryan, 2012). The reason SDT is important for the present
study is that, to the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to directly compare two
approaches to mindfulness training with the same set of participants. Such a within-group
comparison of the same participants performing applied mindfulness with two separate activities
will allow for a direct measurement of how feasible “intrinsic motivation” may be as a target for
applied mindfulness practice. The fact that all results are compared to a control group allows for
the present study to also evaluate how this training approach compares to no training at all. Thus,
the present study seems to be the first to evaluate (a) how does applied mindfulness with an
intrinsically motivated activity compare to a more mundane or routine activity and (b) how does
this same approach compare to a control condition within the same study design. It stands to
reason that if a mindfulness intervention could be effectively applied to an intrinsically
motivated activity, it may enhance one’s motivation to practice mindfulness long-term. It may
also serve to reduce the boredom and frustration with mindfulness practice because people would
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be engaging in an activity they enjoy. This is why the present study sought to identify an activity
that is considered high in intrinsic motivation to serve as a proxy for an enjoyable activity. Given
the large body of evidence that supports the connection between intrinsic motivation and
enjoyment, this section is merely meant to help contextualize why videogame play was selected
as a way to reliably evoke enjoyment from each gamer participant.
It should be pointed out that what one finds intrinsically motivating can be highly
subjective and variable from person to person. Intrinsic motivation can apply, subjectively, to a
wide range of activities including athletics, music, art, and other leisure or recreational activities
(e.g., Deci & Ryan, 2008). However, this study will focus on videogame play as a proxy for
intrinsic motivation because there is an extensive body of literature connecting videogame play
and SDT. Self-Determination Theory has been used to explain the appeal of videogame play
because videogames are played primarily for enjoyment and can promote a sense of competence
and relatedness. Przybylski, Rigby, & Ryan (2010) have provided a summation of how
videogame play promotes SDT principles. Some of their examples related to how videogames
promote competence would be that beating a difficult level in a videogame could make one feel
accomplished and satisfied with their performance. Moreover, the scaffolded structure of most
games, where difficulty increases as one progresses in a game, allows players to feel a sense of
achievement and competence as they advance through a game. Videogames promote autonomy
in several ways as well, most notably in the fact that users voluntarily choose to engage in this
activity. In addition to an individual’s choice to play a videogame, one is typically able to freely
choose among numerous game titles and genres, which further boosts feelings of autonomy.
Lastly, the self-direction of in-game choices and strategies a user might employ during
videogame play also bolsters the autonomous nature of this activity (e.g., Przybyliski, Rigby, &
29
Ryan, 2010; Ryan, Rigby, & Przybyliski, 2006). In sum, SDT posits that people are most
motivated to engage in activities that they enjoy, and videogame play has been well established
as an activity that is high in intrinsic motivation for those who engage in it. To ensure that each
participant would enjoy the activity of videogame play being, a “gamer” (defined as someone
who plays at least three weekly hours of videogames) was an inclusion criterion for participants
in this study. In order to isolate the impact that enjoyment has on outcomes, outcome measures
were compared to an activity that was considered more mundane and “everyday” (i.e., laundry
folding). Such a comparison group is important because, as articulated by Rosen & Davison
(2003), a meaningful comparison group is a critical element to understand what factors are
responsible for observed changes in an intervention. This study sought to evaluate the application
of mindfulness with an enjoyable activity because it such an activity would be discreetly
different from a more routine activity. Such a comparison of the application of mindfulness to
these discreetly different activities allowed this study to gain insights into how type of activity
impacts training in applied mindfulness.
1.11 Videogame Play and Mindfulness
Videogame play has long been considered an activity that has an ability to achieve high
levels of in-the-moment engagement from users. Said another way, videogame play typically
facilitates concentration towards a present moment activity. Some of the constructs that have
been used to discuss engagement in videogames have been “immersion”, “flow”, “absorption”,
and “presence” (e.g., Brockmyer et al., 2009; Sherry, 2004). Each of these terms have robust
bodies of literature and covering all of them all is beyond the scope of this paper. However, it is
important to note that each of these constructs share an overlap in their focus on attentiveness to
a present-moment endeavor, and this represents a clear overlap with present-moment-awareness
30
of mindfulness. In fact, the connection between videogame play and attention to the present
moment is so ubiquitous in the videogame literature that many authors have called for MBIs to
be delivered, at least in part, via videogame play (e.g., Gakenbach, 2008; Gakenbach & Bown,
2011; Sliwinski, Katsikitis, & Jones, 2015).
The mechanics and design of videogames help explain, in part, why videogames
encourage in-the-moment engagement from users. Interactivity is embedded in all videogame
play, and this feature lends itself well to engagement. Specifically, interactivity is the idea that
when a player gives a videogame a command (i.e., the press of a button or the movement of a
joystick) the game responds. This back-and-forth between a user and the mechanics of a
videogame can create an extremely immersive experience (e.g. McMahan, 2003; Przybylski,
Rigby, & Ryan, 2010). Another engaging mechanic of videogame design is the near immediate
feedback players receive on success or failure (e.g., Baranowski, Buday, Thompson, &
Baranowski, 2008; Burns et al., 2010; Thompson et al., 2007). For example, one typically cannot
advance further into a game until they have mastered the prior level. Each failure provides direct
feedback to the user in terms of how to improve their strategy moving forward.
It is possible that the immersive properties of videogame play would be advantageous in
presenting a concept like mindfulness because there would be some familiarity and experience
with, at the very least, the ability to continuously point one’s attention to a present moment
activity. Given that such attentiveness is one pillar of mindfulness, participants who are gamers
may enter the practice feeling like they are competent in this area. To evaluate the idea that
videogame play may help make mindfulness practice more accessible to a gamer population, the
present study included questions for the mindfulness group related to how effective they found
the practice to be in terms of its ability to teach mindfulness. Participants were also asked which
31
study activity they would be more likely to practice mindfulness in the future. By comparing the
results of these measures between the two activities for the mindfulness group, this study will
shed some light on how effective each activity is in training mindfulness.
In spite of some clear conceptual overlaps between mindfulness and videogame play,
there is one critical difference between the two that would warrant the development of a
mindfulness intervention geared specifically towards videogame play. Perhaps the most
important difference between mindfulness and videogame play is that videogame play does not
inherently possess anything that would promote the aspect of mindfulness that relates to
nonjudgmental acceptance. Although videogame play and mindfulness both promote attention to
the present moment, only mindfulness includes the goal of acceptance of negative thoughts and
feelings. Given the fact that videogame play can evoke a wide range of emotions, videogame
play may provide a fertile atmosphere in which to practice strategies that may help them cope
with or navigate their emotions while playing, particularly their negative emotions. There is
empirical evidence that supports this idea. An online survey of a group of gamers found a
positive and significant correlation between high levels of trait-based mindfulness greater levels
of subjective wellbeing (including lower depressive and anxious symptoms). Moreover, the
survey found that gamers who had lower levels of trait-based mindfulness were more likely to
endorse problematic gaming behaviors (e.g., Mettler, Mills, & Heath, 2020). That survey-based
study established that (a) there are high levels of variability in “mindfulness” skills among
gamers and (b) greater mindful abilities can lead to more positive gaming experiences. The
present study will evaluate how a mindfulness training prior to videogame play compares to a
control condition where participants were instructed to play their videogame like they usually do.
Such a comparison will allow us to better understand if there are any benefits to instructing
32
gamers to play their videogames in a more mindful way. It will also help establish the feasibility
of utilizing videogame play as a vehicle to practice applied mindfulness.
To summarize, videogame play was used as a proxy for an enjoyable activity as a means
to practice the application of mindfulness in the current study. This activity was selected for this
study due to its association with intrinsic motivation, which will help ensure that the participants
find videogame play to be enjoyable and motivating endeavor. Another reason this activity was
selected is because it already shares a key property with mindfulness, which is attentiveness to
present-moment actions. In essence, this study was interested in assessing whether videogame
play may serve to enhance a mindfulness intervention (i.e., aim 2 below) as well as the
assessment of how a mindfulness intervention might benefit the activity of videogame play (i.e.,
aim 3 below). To measure the impact of videogame play on mindfulness training a comparison
of mindful gameplay will be made to mindful laundry folding. To measure the impact of a
mindfulness training on videogame play a comparison of a “mindful” gameplay condition will be
compared to a control or natural gameplay condition.
1.12 Present Study
The present study will utilize an empirically supported treatment strategy (i.e.,
mindfulness) to test the short-term effects of an approach to applied mindfulness practice when
such practice is applied to an enjoyable activity (i.e., videogame play) and when it is applied to a
more mundane, everyday activity (i.e., laundry folding). To evaluate the impact of a mindfulness
training for these targeted activities a brief, standardized mindfulness training was conducted
prior to the performance of the two different study activities. This design allowed for two
meaningful comparisons. First, by comparing outcome measures between a mindfulness and
control conditions, we were able to compare the immediate effects of an approach to applied
33
mindfulness practice as compared to how those activities would have been performed with no
mindfulness training. Second, by comparing the experience of participants in the mindfulness
condition performing applied mindfulness practice with two different activities (i.e., folding
laundry and videogame play), we will gain more insight into the impact that the type of activity
has on one’s mindfulness practice.
Questions relating to emotions were asked pre- and post-study activity, while questions
related to state-based mindfulness, motivation, immersion, and personal relevance/satisfaction
were asked after the completion of each study activity. Each activity was done during separate
study sessions no more than ten days apart. Participants were required to attend both study
sessions, thereby eliminating much between-subject variation when discussing results. As will be
described in the methods section, the mindfulness training procedure was based on the core
mindfulness principles of present-moment-awareness and acceptance and openness to all
thoughts and feelings. The aims of the study will be presented now.
1.13 Aim 1: Assess the Impact of a Brief, Standardized Mindfulness Training Procedure
The central question that concerns aim 1 is whether or not a brief, standardized training in
mindfulness prior to the performance of two activities can effectively enhance the participants’
ability to perform the activities in a more “mindful” way. To answer this question the present
study tested the effects of a brief, standardized mindfulness training prior to the completion of
two different activities. The outcomes were compared to a control group performing the same
activities without the mindfulness training. The group who received the mindfulness training
prior to the performance of the two study activities will be referred to as the “mindfulness”
group, and the group who receives no mindfulness training will be known as the “control” group.
A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare outcomes related to state-
34
mindfulness, motivation, immersion, affect, and several other secondary outcomes. It was
hypothesized that participants who receive the mindfulness training would report greater state-
mindfulness scores than their control counterparts for both study activities.
1.14 Aim 2: Measure the Impact that Type of Activity Has on Outcome Measures
Aim 2 was meant to evaluate the similarities and differences in outcomes when one
performs applied mindfulness practice with a videogame as compared to an everyday activity
like folding laundry. In order to achieve this, primary and secondary outcome measures were
compared between the mindful videogame play and the mindful laundry folding conditions.
Since all participants were randomized to a mindfulness or control condition and then completed
the two study activities within that condition, aim 2 performed a within-subject comparison.
Thus, differences in outcomes between the mindful videogame play and mindful laundry folding
conditions could be attributed, at least in part, to the activity itself since the participants were the
same for both activities within the mindfulness condition. Stated another way, aim 2 was
constructed in an effort to assess the impact that the “type” of activity had on the participants’
experience performing applied mindfulness. Both activities were considered proxies for applied
mindfulness practice. Since participants in this study were a group of gamers, it was expected
that participants would report greater levels of intrinsic motivation during the mindful videogame
play activity as compared to the mindful laundry folding activity. It was also expected that both
groups would report similar levels of state-based mindfulness. Since this is the first study (to the
author’s knowledge) to directly compare the application of mindfulness to both a routine activity
as well as to an intrinsically motivated activity, the author considered this to be an exploratory
study evaluating the feasibility of such an approach to applied mindfulness training.
Consequently, the author considered the rest of the group comparisons as exploratory and made
35
no other a priori hypotheses on measures outside of intrinsic motivation and state-based
mindfulness.
1.15 Aim 3: Explore Differences in Outcomes for “Mindful” and “Natural” Videogame
Play.
Aim 1 was designed to assess how a mindfulness training procedure would impact state-
based mindfulness specified to the period of time the study activity took place. Aim 2 was meant
to assess how mindful videogame play compares to mindful laundry folding on an assortment of
secondary measures including motivation, immersion, personal importance, and acceptability of
utilizing the study activity for mindfulness practice. Aim 3 was designed to evaluate how a
mindful approach to videogame play changes the experience of videogame play itself. In other
words, does a mindful approach to videogame play have any potential benefits for a participant?
To evaluate this question, the present study compared results from secondary measures for the
mindful videogame play condition and the control videogame play condition. Thus, the study
was not just interested in knowing how mindful videogame play compares to a mindful everyday
activity like laundry folding but was also interested in better understanding how mindful
videogame play compares to natural videogame play (i.e., the control condition). Since this is the
first study (to the authors knowledge) to directly compare the application of mindfulness training
to a self-selected videogame and compare the results to a control group of gamers performing the
same activity naturally, the author also considered aim 3 to be exploratory and made no other a
priori hypotheses.
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2.0 Methods
2.1 Overview
Each participant in the study completed two study sessions that were spaced anywhere
from 1 to 7 days apart. At each study session participants answered questionnaires, performed
one of two study tasks (i.e., videogame play or laundry folding), and then answered more
questionnaires. All participants that were included in the data analysis completed both study
sessions. Only one participant dropped out of the study after the first session, and their data was
removed from the dataset.
2.2 Study Design
To address the aims of this study a randomized, mixed-method, counterbalanced study
design measuring outcomes both within and between groups was utilized. Participants were
randomized in an equal ratio into either a “mindfulness” or “control” condition. Randomization
also included a random assignment for the order in which participants performed the two study
activities. This counterbalanced design controlled for possible order or sequencing effects
resulting from performing one study task before the other. Thus, there were a total of four
experimental conditions:
(1) Mindfulness-video game play at first session, fold laundry at second session
(2) Mindfulness-fold laundry at first session, videogame play at second session
(3) Control-video game play at first session, fold laundry at second session
(4) Control-fold laundry at first session, videogame play at second session
The primary outcome measure was state-based-mindfulness, which was measured with
the State Mindfulness Scale. The scale was worded to make participants rate their level of
mindfulness specifically during the study activity. The State Mindfulness Scale was utilized in
37
order to evaluate the effect of the study’s mindfulness manipulation. Secondary measures
included the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory, an adapted version of the Flow State Scale, and the
Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-X. A series of questions that were study-specific were also
assessed and were meant to measure how satisfied each participant was with their performance
of each task, the perceived effectiveness of the mindfulness training, the relevance or importance
of the activity, how effective they found the mindfulness training to be, and how likely they
would be to practice mindfulness in the future with each study activity. Some of the questions
were only presented to those in the mindfulness training condition and this distinction will be
made clear in the analysis and results section).
Another aspect of the study that is important to note is the setting in which it took place.
The study was originally designed as an in-lab experiment where participants would come and
complete the study activities under standardized conditions. However, that study was approved
by the University of Southern California’s institutional review board in February 2020, and in
March 2021 all in-person research was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Consequently, the study design was amended to make study sessions take place at-home and
were all Zoom-based. Efforts were made to keep experimental conditions as standardized as
possible. This will be covered in the section called “tech check.”
2.3 Measures
2.3.1 Primary Results Measure: State-Based Mindfulness – The participants’ level of
state-based mindfulness during the performance of the two study activities was assessed via the
State Mindfulness Scale (SMS) (Tanay & Bernstein, 2013). The SMS is a self-report measure
comprised of statements that are meant to capture one’s degree of mindfulness. The SMS was
validated via a three-part study on a sample of 353 adult participants. The first study performed
38
an exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and identified a higher order 2-factor solution
that entailed one second-order state mindfulness factor and two first-order factors. One first-
order factor reflects state mindfulness of bodily sensations (e.g., “I clearly felt what was going on
in my body”) and one first-order factor reflects mindfulness of mental and/or cognitive events
(e.g., “I noticed thoughts come and go”). The second study evaluated the SMS with respect to
other validated mindfulness measures and found evidence that the SMS has good convergent,
discriminant, and incremental convergent validity with respect to other measures of mindfulness.
The third study performed a randomized control experimental mindfulness intervention and
found that the SMS is a stable measure of mindfulness over time and across contexts and is also
sensitive to changes in mindfulness over brief periods of time. In other words, the SMS is a state-
based mindfulness measure that can be specified to different contexts or activities (e.g., Tanay &
Bernstein, 2013).
The subscale of SMS-Mind is meant to capture one’s ability to deliberately attend to the
present moment and is comprised of the following statements: I was aware of the different
emotions that arose in me, I tried to pay attention to pleasant and unpleasant sensations, I found
some of my experiences interesting, I noticed many small details about my experience, I felt
aware of what was happening inside of me, I noticed pleasant and unpleasant emotions, I
actively explored my experience in the moment, I felt that I was experiencing the present
moment fully, I noticed pleasant and unpleasant thoughts, I noticed emotions come and go, I had
moments when I felt alert and awake, I felt closely connected to the present moment, I noticed
thoughts come and go, I was aware of what was going on in my mind, and I was interested to see
the pattern of my thinking. The subscale of SMS-Body is meant to capture one’s awareness of
their physical, bodily sensations and is comprised of the following statements: I clearly
39
physically felt what was going on in my body, I changed my body posture and paid attention to
the physical process of moving, I noticed various sensations caused by my surroundings (e.g.,
heat, coolness, the wind on my face), I noticed physical sensations come and go, I felt in contact
with my body, and I noticed some pleasant and unpleasant physical sensations. An SMS-
Composite score was also calculated that was the mean of all SMS responses.
For the present study the SMS prompt was worded the same for participants in both
conditions and for both study tasks (See Appendix A1 for a copy of the SMS). The prompt read,
“Please answer the following questions in relation to your experience while performing the study
task. These questions relate to the thoughts and feelings you may have experienced during the
study task. There are no right or wrong answers. Think about how you felt during the task and
answer the questions using the rating scale below. Indicate the number that best matches your
experience from the options to the right of each question.” Tables with descriptions of the SMS’s
subscales as well as what individual items make up each SMS subscale can be found in
Appendix B1.
2.3.2 Secondary Results Measures: Intrinsic Motivation to Perform Task – The
Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) was created in order to capture core constructs related to
Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and includes an Interest/Enjoyment subscale that assesses the
extent to which one intrinsically enjoyed a target activity (See Appendix A2 for a copy of the
IMI). The IMI is a self-report instrument that measures multiple dimensions related to one’s
subjective experience of a specific activity and was validated to be utilized in laboratory-based
experiments (e.g., Markland & Hardy, 1997). The Interest/Enjoyment subscale is considered the
IMI scale that most directly captures the SDT construct of intrinsic motivation (e.g., Ryan, 1995;
Ryan, Koestner & Deci, 1991) and includes the following items: This activity did not hold my
40
attention at all, I enjoyed doing this activity very much, I thought this activity was quite
enjoyable, I thought this was a boring activity, I would describe this activity as very interesting,
and While I was doing this activity, I was thinking about how much I enjoyed it. There are three
additional subscales that the IMI provides upon completion. The Competence subscale measures
a participants’ perceived competence in performing a task and includes the following items:
After working at this activity for a while, I felt pretty competent, I was pretty skilled at this
activity, I think I did pretty well at this activity, compared to other students, I am satisfied with
my performance at this task, This was an activity that I couldn’t do very well, and I think I am
pretty good at this activity. The Effort subscale assesses how much effort a participant put forth
during a targeted activity and is comprised of the following items: I put a lot of effort into this, I
tried very hard on this activity, It was important to me to do well at this task, I didn’t try very
hard to do well at this activity, and I didn’t put much energy into this. Finally, the Value subscale
measures how useful or important a participant perceives an activity to be and includes the
following items: I think this is an important activity, I believe this activity could be of some
value to me, I believe doing this activity could be beneficial to me, I would be willing to do this
again because it has some value. An IMI-Composite score was also calculated for this study’s
analysis and was the mean score of all items. Tables with descriptions of the IMI’s subscales as
well as what individual items make up each IMI subscale can be found in Appendix B2.
2.3.3 Secondary Results Measures: Flow and Immersion –An adapted version of the
Flow State Scale (FSS) was used to evaluate the extent to which participants were immersed
during the performance of each study task (Jackson & Marsh, 1996). Immersion, or losing one’s
sense of self, is a central component to flow (e.g., Csikszentmihalyi, 1975, 1993), making the
FSS a fitting measure for this construct. FSS respondents are asked to think back to a time during
41
a target activity that resulted in what they consider the “optimal experience” of that activity (See
Appendix A3 for a copy of the FSS). The FSS tries to capture the level of flow from these
individual experiences by assessing nine dimensions from a factor scale. Each dimension is
comprised of four items (36 total items) that are presented in a 5-point, self-report, Likert scale
with a range from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 5 (Strongly agree). Although all nine dimensions were
assessed in this study, it should be noted the authors who developed and validated the FSS have
identified the FSS-autotelic subscale as the subscale that most closely captures the construct of
flow (Jackson & Marsh, 1996). The items that comprise FSS Autotelic include: I really enjoyed
the experience, I loved the feeling of that performance and want to capture it again, The
experience left me feeling great, and I found the experience extremely rewarding. The second
dimension, Challenge-Skill Balance, is an assessment of how the person perceives their skills in
relation to the challenge presented. Optimal skill-balance is when a person’s skill is good enough
to meet the challenge, but the challenge is difficult enough that they do not consider it easy to
overcome. The third dimension, Action-Awareness Merging, is when one’s involved or
immersed so deeply in the flow activity that they lose their sense of self. This state is described
as having behaviors or actions occur “automatically”. The fourth dimension, Clear Goals,
assesses how well defined the activity is for the person. One has a stronger sense of flow the
more clearly one feels like they know what he or she is doing. The fifth dimension,
Unambiguous Feedback, gets a sense of how immediate and clear feedback is provided by the
activity. Feedback is important so that one knows they are succeeding in the activity and making
progress toward achieving their goal. The sixth dimension, Concentration on Task at Hand,
evaluates the level of focus or concentration one has on the task at hand. Concentration and focus
are considered to be cornerstones of the flow state. The seventh dimension, Sense of Control,
42
measures how actively one must work to exert control over the activity. How much one feels like
they are in control of a difficult task or situation is strongly and positively correlated with the
flow state. The eighth dimension, Loss of Self-Consciousness, aims to understand how much the
person feels like they are one with the activity. This dimension is described as having concern
for the self, disappear and having many actions occur instinctively. The ninth (and final)
dimension, Transformation of Time, measures how one’s sense of time was altered by an
activity. Time can either speed up, making one feel like the action or event ended too quickly, or,
time can slow down, making one feel like they had more time to think and react. The FSSs nine
scales’ validity was supported through confirmatory factor analysis, while overall the scale
demonstrated good internal consistency (M = .82) (Jackson & Marsh, 1996). An FSS-Composite
score was also calculated for this study and was the mean score of all FSS items. Tables with
descriptions of the FSS’s subscales as well as what individual items make up each FSS subscale
can be found in Appendix B3.
Percentage of Time “In the Zone” – Participants’ level of immersion or flow during
each study activity was also assessed by asking them the following question, “What percentage
of the time would you say you felt completely immersed or ‘in the zone’ during the activity?” A
visual analogue scale (VAS) was presented to them with a range of 1-100 in order to estimate
how much time they spent immersed in the study activity. This item can be found at the end of
Appendix A3.
2.3.4 Secondary Results Measures: Change in Affect as a Result of Performing the
Study Task (Affect/Emotions) – The participant’s emotional experience was assessed at
baseline before any video game play and immediately following the completion of each game
using the Positive and Negative Affective Schedule – Expanded Form (PANAS-X) (Watson &
43
Clark, 1999; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). The PANAS-X is a self-report 5-point Likert-
scale with labels for each numeric value from 0 (Very slightly or not at all) to 5 (Extremely) (See
the Appendix A4 for a copy of the PANAS-X). Participants are asked to rate how much they are
experiencing each emotion word that is presented. Items on the PANAS-X can be grouped into
categories covering general dimensions of emotional states including positive emotions (active,
alert, attentive, determined, enthusiastic, excited, inspired, interested, proud, strong) and negative
emotions (afraid, scared, nervous, jittery, irritable, hostile, guilty, ashamed, upset, distressed).
The present study also included the PANAS-X basic positive emotion scales of self-assurance
(proud, strong, confident, bold, daring, fearless) and attentiveness (alert, attentive, concentrating,
determined), as well as an “other” affective state of serenity (calm, relaxed, at ease). The scale
prompts the user to think about each emotion and rate their experience of that emotion. The scale
has been validated to assess eight distinct temporal categories, and for the purposes of this study
participants will be asked how they feel about each emotion, right now (that is, at the present
moment). Items were presented in random order with no sub categorizations indicated. The
present moment temporal cue was tested with a sample of 660 participants and showed high
levels of validity and reliability (Watson Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). Tables with descriptions of
the PANAS-X’s subscales as well as what individual items make up each PANAS-X subscale
can be found in Appendix B4.
2.3.5 Secondary Outcome Measures: Satisfaction, Personal Importance/Relevance,
Ease of Task, and Acceptability of the Intervention. Participants were presented with
questions in order to assess how much satisfaction they derived from performing each study
activity, how important or relevant they perceived each study activity to be, and how challenging
they found each study activity to be. See Appendix A5 for a copy of these items. Tables with
44
descriptions of these scales as well as what individual items make up each scale can be found in
Appendix B5.
Satisfaction Performing the Study Activity – In order to assess the satisfaction each
participant experienced related to the study activity they had just performed, all participants were
presented with a semantic differential scale with the following set of word pairings,
“happy/unhappy,” “pleased/annoyed,” “satisfied/unsatisfied,” and “content/melancholic.” These
four items were validated to measure how positive and satisfying one perceived a targeted
activity to be, and a mean score for all four items was calculated (Lin, Gregor, & Ewing, 2008).
These questions were posed in the form of a semantic differential scale because such scales have
shown good validity and reliability for assessing consumers’ experience with interactive media
(e.g., Zaichkowsky, 1994). Such semantic differential scales are ideal for such questions because
a construct of interest can be flexibly applied to measure a wide range of digital-media-based
interactions. Since web browsing and video game play both entail interacting with digital
technology, the scale seems appropriate to adapt for the purposes of the present study. All
semantic differential scales in the present study first presented each participant with the
following instructions, “Please indicate the degree to which each word represents how you felt
while folding the laundry. The closer a mark is placed to a word, the stronger you feel the word
represents your feelings. Please make one mark per prompt.” The word pairings for each
construct then followed the format of, “While, [insert study activity] I felt:”, followed by the sets
of word pairings. The semantic differential scale had 7-points and agreement with a statement to
the highest degree was scored a “3,” and disagreement to the highest degree was scored “-3” in
relation to the prompt. A neutral score in the middle of the two adjectives was scored a “0.” A
copy of this scale can be found it Appendix A5.
45
Personal Importance / Relevance of Task: A 7-point semantic differential scale was
also utilized in order to assess how important or relevant the participants perceived the task to be.
The word pairings for the personal importance or relevance included, “important/unimportant,”
“useful/pointless,” and “hopeful/despairing.” A scoring range from “3” to “-3” was used with a
mean score of all three items calculated as the outcome measure. This question was posed in the
same way to participants in both the mindfulness and control groups. A copy of this scale can be
found it Appendix A5.
Ease of Performing the Study Activity: A 7-point semantic differential scale was
utilized in order to assess how easy or difficult the participants perceived the study task to be.
The word pairing for this measure included, “easy/difficult.” A scoring range from “3” to “-3”
was used to calculate a mean score for this item. This question was posed in the same way to
participants in both the mindfulness and control groups. This will be a particularly helpful
measure when comparing the two tasks for participants in the mindfulness group. A copy of this
scale can be found it Appendix A5.
2.3.6 Secondary Outcome Measures: Acceptability of Mindfulness Intervention.
Since between-session work, worksheets, and “homework” assignments are a part of many
therapeutic interventions, the present study posed several questions meant to assess how
acceptable participants in the mindfulness group found the intervention to be. For the purpose of
this study, “acceptability” entails their reported likelihood to perform the study task in the future
as well as which study activity they perceived to teach them mindfulness effectively. Stated
another way, these questions were meant to capture how likely the participant felt they would be
to use these activities to practice mindfulness in the future. These questions were only presented
to participants in the mindfulness condition.
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Likelihood to Practice Mindfulness in Future – Participants in the mindfulness
condition were asked to rate how likely they were to utilize the target activity to practice
mindfulness in the future. In order to assess likelihood to practice mindfulness with the target
activity in the future, participants were presented with a 7-point semantic differential scale that
included the following prompt, In today’s study session you were asked to [perform study
activity] for [10 or 20] minutes. How likely is it that you will continue to [perform study activity]
mindfully in the future? The opposing anchors that were attached to each end of the scale were, I
will always try to complete [specified activity] in a more mindful way, and I will never try to
complete [specified activity] in a more mindful way. A mark in the middle of the scale was
meant to indicate a neutral response and was scored a “0.” Agreeing that they would practice
mindfulness to the highest degree was scored a “3,” and stating they would never practice
mindfulness to the highest degree was scored “-3” in relation to the prompt. This question was
posed to participants in the mindfulness group after each study activity; thus, they completed this
prompt for video game play and folding laundry.
Preferred Task for Mindfulness Practice – At the end of the second study session
participants in the mindfulness condition were asked the following question, which activity
would you most likely utilize to “practice” mindfulness in the future? Options included, video
game play, folding laundry, neither, and both.
Perceived Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training – At the end of the second study
session participants in the mindfulness condition were also asked the following question, during
this study, you were asked to perform two different activities in a “‘mindful” way. Which
activity do you feel was more effective in teaching you mindfulness? Options included, video
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game play, folding laundry, neither helped me learn, and both helped me learn equally. A copy
of these acceptability questions can be found in Appendix A6.
2.4 Participants
Participants reported their age, sex, race/ethnicity, and relationship status prior to the first
study session. Participants also provided information about how many hours of videogames they
play per week as well as their videogame preferences and habits (e.g., what genres of
videogames they prefer, what platforms they play on, whether they play solo or collectively with
other players, etc.). Full baseline and demographic information can be found in Appendix D1.
A total of 124 participants enrolled in the study, with 123 of 124 completing both study
sessions. Inclusion criteria was that a) participants were required to be between the ages of 18
and 64, b) they must be a self-identified “gamer” who reported playing between 3 and 30 hours
of videogames on a weekly basis, c) ability to read and speak English, d) have access to a private
area for two study sessions, e) must have access to Zoom so they can communicate with study
personnel during the study sessions. Exclusion criteria was a) prior experience with mindfulness
in the form of “Formal Mindfulness Training.” Formal mindfulness training in this context was
considered prior experience taking a mindfulness-based class, group, or the completion of
mindfulness training that was done via individual and/or group psychotherapy, with a licensed
mental health professional. Other exclusion criteria included, b) play less than 3 hours or more
than 30 hours of videogames per week, c) younger than age 18, and d) older than age 64.
Study participants were recruited from USC’s research participation pool that is a course
requirement for many classes at USC. These participants were compensated for study
participation in the form of course credits. Participants were also recruited from the general
public with study fliers being posted on various social media platforms including Facebook,
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Instagram, and Reddit. Participants from the general public were compensated with a $10
Amazon.com gift card for each study session they completed. Thus, participants who completed
both study sessions were compensated with $20 in Amazon.com gift cards.
2.5 Study Procedure
All participants in the study completed two at-home activities. These two activities were
completed across two separate study sessions, with each study session being devoted to the
completion of one study activity. The two study sessions were all completed within one to seven
days of each other. One study session entailed playing a videogame of the participant’s choosing.
How their videogames were selected will be described below. The other study activity consisted
of folding an assortment their own clean laundry. The sequence of these activities was
counterbalanced in order to control for order effects. Half of the participants were randomized
into a “mindfulness” condition in which they were briefly instructed on how to complete each
study activity in a more mindful way and then were asked to perform the study activity in the
more “mindful” way. The other half of the participants were randomized into a “control”
condition in which they were asked to perform the study activities as they usually or “naturally”
would. All participants in the control condition were blinded to the fact that this was a study
about mindfulness. Control condition participants were told they were taking part in a “Habits of
Gamers” study and the goal of the study was to simply learn how they perform certain activities.
A full description of the mindfulness instructions and control prompts for each activity will soon
follow and can also be found, as they appeared to participants, in Appendix C. All study sessions
were completed via Zoom videocall. Participants were provided with a Qualtrics link at the
beginning of each study session that contained all of the study instructions and questions. A
study personnel would be on the Zoom videocall in order to help each participant progress
49
through the entire study session, which entailed completing the entire Qualtrics link. Each study
session lasted approximately 60 minutes from start to finish.
2.5.1 Pre-screening “Tech Check”. Because all study sessions were Zoom-based, a
requirement prior to study enrollment for each participant was to meet with study personnel to
complete a “tech check.” The tech check took approximately 10 minutes to complete. The
purpose of the tech check was to ensure that each participant had the physical space needed to
fold laundry and play a videogame while being monitored via Zoom by study personnel. During
the tech check, study personnel would provide each participant with an overview of what was
going to be entailed for each study activity. The participant was asked to confirm that they have
laundry they can fold, an open space to fold the laundry, and they would also select the
videogame they would play for the study. The tech check also entailed a confirmation that
participants could create a distraction-free environment for the two study sessions (e.g., asking
roommates to stay out of the room for 60 minutes). If a participant was able to successfully
complete a tech check, they would be officially enrolled in the study and their two sessions were
scheduled.
2.5.2 Videogame Selection for each Participant. Participants in each study condition
were instructed to select their own videogames to play during the videogame play activity. There
were two main reasons that the study had participants select their own videogames. The first
reason, as outlined in the introduction, is due to the importance of autonomy and personal agency
within a Self-Determination Theory (SDT) framework. As this study was interested in the
construct of enjoyment as outlined by SDT, the ability of participants to self-select the
videogame they would play was a critical aspect to ensure that the “autonomy” aspect of SDT
was satisfied. If the present study had selected a uniform game for all study participants to play,
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the autonomous engagement in this activity would have been severely undermined. Since
autonomy is a pillar of intrinsic motivation, by removing the autonomous element from the game
selection of each participant, the study would not have been able to ensure that each player
enjoyed the study’s game. As one main aim of the study is to better understand how enjoyment
impacts mindfulness training, it was believed that it would be a detriment to force participants to
play a standardized game that they may not enjoy.
The second reason that participants were allowed to select their own videogame for the
present study is because it was believed that this would reduce the level of individual variation in
relation to the skills-challenge balance of the videogame for each participant. If participants were
all similar in relation to the “skill” needed to play each game, it was reasonable to believe that
they would be able to more effectively apply the study’s mindfulness intervention. An
understanding of “mastery of controls” is needed to explain this logic.
Mastery of controls is the ability for a videogame player to be comfortable with and
“master” the interface and interactive elements of a videogame’s mechanics. Some examples of
different videogame interfaces include whether the game is played on a touch-screen tablet, on a
screen with a remote control, or via augmented and virtual reality. Some examples of interactive
elements within videogames include what kinds of actions the player can control in the game,
how to control a character’s movements, or how to use an in-game menu to enhance a
character’s abilities. Large differences in mastery of controls between participants would have
presented a critical confound to the central aim of the study. The process through which one
learns mastery of control, called the learning curve, can vary greatly between individual
videogames as well as between different gaming systems. Consequently, if the participants in
this study were all asked to play the same videogame, there may have been large between-subject
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differences in their mastery of controls and subsequent “learning curve” for the game. Stated
another way, some participants may have been more focused on learning the mechanics and
controls of a common videogame provided by the study if they were unfamiliar with the study’s
game. This learning curve would have taken a participant’s attention away from the study’s
instructions. Simply put, the learning curve required for players would have had the potential to
frustrate and distract the participants from the task-at-hand, which was to play their videogame in
a more mindful way (for those in the mindfulness condition).
Another reason mastery of controls was important to account for is the fact that high
mastery of control has been identified as a critical factor in order for a player to feel satisfied
with their videogame experience (e.g., Przybylski, Rigby, & Ryan, 2010). This idea has been
further supported by Belchior et al. (2012), who found that engagement and presence within a
videogame during play were enhanced when the game was matched to a player’s skill level.
Thus, players of virtually every skill level (including novice players) can immerse themselves in
a videogame as long as they are familiar with the interface or if the interface is easy for them to
control. Consequently, the self-selection of a videogame would allow the optimal “mastery of
control” for each participant, and by extension allow gamers of all skill levels to participate in
the study without having to learn a new game.
As was discussed in section 1.9, a videogame is an interaction between a human and
some form of digital media. Since the study was interested in the impact of a mindfulness
training for a group of gamers, a participants’ familiarity with the game they played in the study
was key to ensure that their cognitive resources would be used to apply the mindfulness training
instead of learning how to “master” the controls of an unfamiliar game. Simply put, the present
study wanted participants to apply mindfulness to a videogame while active play takes place, not
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while learning the controls of a game takes place. The study was interested in the player and how
they play the game as opposed to the game itself. Thus, the reduction of variability related to
how well one can play a game was imperative to reduce the chances that participants’ responses
were more related to their ability to learn the game as opposed to their ability to apply
mindfulness to their videogame play. It is also important to note that the present study also
considered the utilization of a standardized “casual” videogame that would have been easy to
play for gamers of all levels. However, it was believed that if the present study had utilized a
standard casual videogame for all participants to play, such as Tetris or Candy Crush, the
videogame would not have been enjoyed by gamers who dislike puzzle-based games as well as
more advanced gamers who find such games to be unchallenging.
Though participants were allowed to select their own videogame, there were some
parameters for what kind of videogame could be played. Prior to enrollment participants were
asked to identify 3-5 videogames that they are “familiar with” and that they felt comfortable
playing. They were further instructed to include videogames that they play for “relaxation” or
“enjoyment.” The other game selection guidelines included: (1) No multi-player games unless
they had a solo or training mode. (2) If a player chose to play a multiplayer game or Massively
Multiplayer Online game (MMO) they were asked to play on training mode or to complete a solo
mission. (3) No virtual-reality videogames. (4) If a videogame had a lot of cutscenes, the players
were asked to do tasks within the game that minimized or eliminated such cutscenes. Participants
were also asked to have their videogame cued up and ready to play during the videogame play
session. Generally, participants were asked to select games and cue them up so that they could
have 20 minutes of actual gameplay during the study session. All of the aforementioned
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requirements were meant to allow for participants to perform the most amount of active
gameplay possible during the 20-minute videogame play activity.
2.5.3 Structure of Study Sessions. Each study session followed a similar progression,
regardless of condition or study activity. Participants would connect with the study personnel on
Zoom and the Qualtrics link with the study instructions and questionnaires would be shared with
them in the chat feature of Zoom. Participants would see a brief introduction to the study that
stated they are about to complete a study session for the “Habits of Gamers” study and reminded
them which study activity they would be completing that day. They would then complete the
PANAS-X in order to assess their mood prior to completing the study activity. The study
instructions would then be presented to them. After the study instructions, which differed
depending upon the study activity and study condition, the participants were asked to complete
brief text-entry responses that differed based on the study condition. These will be described
within the “mindfulness training” section and “control condition” sections. After completing the
text-entry responses the study personnel would instruct them that they could also write about
how they “typically” perform this activity. Participants would then complete the study activity,
which entailed either 10 minutes of folding laundry or 20 minutes for playing their videogame.
During the study activity the study personnel turned off their camera to minimize distractions for
the participant. Thus, the study participants could not see the study personnel during the
performance of their tasks, which was meant to minimize their level of performance anxiety. The
participant was also videorecorded during the study activity. The study personnel would also
keep track of time for the participant and the participants were instructed to continue with the
activity until the study personnel informed them that time was up. Time was tracked with a
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stopwatch. After the study activity was completed the participants would then complete the post-
activity PANAS-X measure as well as the rest of the study measures.
Participants were asked to ensure that during each study session they had a private area
that would allow for minimal interruptions from family, friends, roommates, or pets. They were
also asked to keep other individuals who had not consented to being recorded away from where
they would be detected by Zoom’s audio or visual inputs. They were further asked to set up their
Zoom-connected device (e.g., phone, tablet, computer) so that the webcam was recording them
straight-on, with hands and face visible. It was requested that all other programs like email, text
messages and other notifications were turned off or on silent in order to further minimize
interruptions.
2.5.4 General Structure of Mindfulness Training. Participants in the mindfulness
condition were instructed to perform both study activities while utilizing the application of
mindfulness. The standardized mindfulness training procedures were created by the author of the
study and were tailored to each study activity. Before starting each study activity participants
were introduced to the concept of mindfulness as well as how to practice mindfulness while
performing each study activity. For example, participants were encouraged to use their five sense
(i.e., vision, touch, hearing, smell, and taste) to gain an awareness of the physical-details-of-the-
moment entailed in folding laundry. The instructions were approximately four minutes in length
and were presented in written format via Qualtrics and audio format in the form of study
personnel reading the instructions aloud to the participant. Participants were asked to read along
as the mindfulness instructions were presented to them by study personnel. Although tailored to
each activity, each set of instructions emphasized the two broad aspects of mindfulness described
earlier, (1) attention to the present moment and (2) acceptance and nonjudgmental attitude.
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Appendix C contains each study condition prompt/instructions as well as the visual aids that
accompanied each study activity. The study’s visual aids were created for this study and were
meant to help reinforce the mindfulness instructions.
Following the presentation of the mindfulness training participants were asked to define
mindfulness for the study personnel and were asked to include both aspects of mindfulness that
were addressed in the instructions (i.e., attention to the present moment and an accepting,
nonjudgmental attitude). If the participant failed to mention both aspects of mindfulness the
study personnel would review the parts of the instructions that the participant failed to mention
and would prompt them to define mindfulness again until they understood the key concepts. This
was done to help reinforce the key concepts of mindfulness as well as ensure that the participants
understood the instructions. The participants were then asked to complete the following write-in
questions:
(a) Now, take a moment to write down what you understand about mindfulness
and how to mindfully perform an activity. Please mention BOTH aspects of
mindfulness
(b) Please use the space below to write about how your current [gaming or
laundry] habits help or hinder your ability to [play video games or fold laundry]
mindfully. For example, do you do anything that might take your focus and
awareness away from the [game or laundry] such as responding to your phone or
listening to music?
(c) Please use the space below to write about how [playing your video game or
folding your laundry] in a more mindful way might be helpful for you. It is okay
to say if you do not think it would be helpful to [play a video game or fold
laundry] in this way.
These three prompts were meant to help the participants spend more time reflecting upon
mindfulness concepts and self-generating ideas about how such a mindful approach to the
coming activity might be beneficial for them. Portions of the prompts that are in brackets reflect
the slight modifications that were made to the prompt to make it specific to the study activity
they were about to perform. After completing responses for these three prompts the study
56
activity would begin. The study personnel kept track of time and informed the participant when
the activity had ended.
2.5.5 Mindfulness Instructions for Videogame Play Activity. Participants in both study
conditions played their selected videogame for a total of 20 minutes. Appendix C1 contains the
mindful videogame play training with the visual aid appearing as it looked to participants. The
full text for the videogame play activity mindfulness training was as follows:
Today you will be asked to play a video game utilizing a therapeutic
strategy known as Mindfulness. Mindfulness entails both the ability to completely
immerse one’s self in the present moment and the ability to detect and welcome
incoming thoughts and feelings in real time. Today you will be asked to play the
video game you have selected in a more mindful way. Video game play was
selected as a way to practice mindfulness because many features common to
video game play may provide an ideal opportunity to practice both facets of
mindfulness at the same time.
One common aspect of all video games is that they are interactive in
nature, with the game responding to a player’s commands. Such interactivity
between a game and its players presents each user an ideal platform to practice the
first aspect of mindfulness, which is attention, engagement and immersion in the
present moment. However, just because a game is interactive does not necessarily
mean it will engage or immerse a player. In order for full engagement and
immersion to take place, a player must have the ability to notice and curtail
distracting thoughts. As you play your game today, try to be mindful about how
much attention and energy you are placing on the game itself. Try to notice any
thoughts or feelings that may distract you from giving the game your complete
attention. If you notice you’re not fully engaged in the game, just recognize this
has taken place and try to re-focus.
An image will now be presented that demonstrates this first “mindfulness”
principle in the context of video game play. PRESS THE “NEXT” BUTTON.
This image demonstrates the difference between having one’s mind be full
of distracting thoughts and having one’s mind be immersed in the present
moment. As you can see, the person in the red shirt is playing a video game but
their mind is full of distracting thoughts, while the person in the green shirt is
playing a video game and only placing their thoughts on the game itself. As you
play your game today, try to be mindful about how much attention and energy
you are placing on the game. This will help you master the first aspect of
mindfulness; attention, engagement and immersion in the present moment.
PRESS THE “NEXT” BUTTON.
In addition to paying attention to ourselves and our actions in the present
moment, video game play allows users to practice a second important aspect of
mindfulness, which is acceptance. Acceptance within mindfulness entails feeling
57
okay about the fact that we might not always be happy and welcoming all
thoughts and feelings. In other words, acceptance means there is no “right” or
“wrong” way to feel. Since video game play can evoke a wide range of positive
and negative emotions, it can provide a platform through which gamers can
practice their ability to notice and accept their thoughts and feelings.
One way to think about acceptance is to imagine a mountain. No matter
what is going on in the world around it, a mountain remains unchanged. With a
solid foundation, a mountain can simply observe the changing seasons, knowing
that it will always be a mountain. As you play your game today, try to play like
you are a mountain. You may feel frustrated, angry and hopeless when losing
repeatedly. You may feel happy, confident, and proud if you beat a final boss or
successfully complete a difficult mission. Some players might experience
boredom while playing an easy game or may feel annoyed at a non-playing
character. Irritation or feeling upset at in-game bugs or toxic online players may
also take place. Just like a mountain, you can simply try to allow these kinds of
thoughts and feelings to come and go, knowing that at the end of the day you will
remain the same person.
As you play your game today try and maintain an awareness about what
emotions you experience as you play. If you notice yourself having a negative
emotion, simply be aware that you’re having it and try to re-focus your attention
on the game. Your goal should be to not get too lost or “wrapped up” in any
emotion. Simply try to notice and accept that you are having an emotional
reaction to the game. Try to remember the two main facets of mindfulness: (a)
paying attention to the present moment and (b) acceptance of one’s thoughts and
feelings. PRESS THE “NEXT” BUTTON.
The visual aid as well as the preceding mindfulness instructions that were presented
during the mindful videogame play activity is located in Appendix C1.
2.5.6 Mindfulness Instructions for Laundry Folding Activity. Participants in both
study conditions folded laundry for a total of 10 minutes. Appendix C2 contains the mindful
videogame play training with the visual aid appearing as it looked to participants. The
instructions for the mindful laundry folding activity were as follows:
Today you will be asked to fold an assortment of laundry utilizing a
therapeutic strategy known as Mindfulness. Mindfulness entails the ability to pay
attention to and completely immerse one’s self in the present moment and the
ability to detect, accept, and welcome incoming thoughts and feelings. Today you
will learn how to fold laundry in this “mindful” way.
Folding laundry was selected as a way to practice mindfulness because it
is an activity that presents many opportunities to practice both facets of
mindfulness at the same time. Since folding laundry is not an activity that
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typically requires significant mental or physical effort, many people tend to
perform this task on “autopilot.” When performing an activity on autopilot it can
allow one’s mind to wander away from the present moment. Consequently,
folding laundry may be an ideal activity in which to practice the first aspect of
mindfulness, which relates to placing one’s full attention on the task-at-hand and
trying to immerse one’s self in the present moment. Folding laundry provides one
with many opportunities to notice their mind wander and then re-focus their
attention to the present moment activity. While you fold your laundry for 10
minutes during today’s study activity try to maintain your focus on the task-at-
hand. If you notice your mind wander, remember that it is okay when this happens
and simply try to re-focus your attention to the laundry you are presently folding.
An image that helps demonstrate how to fold laundry in a more "mindful"
way will now be presented to you. PLEASE CLICK THE “NEXT” BUTTON.
This image demonstrates the difference between having one’s mind be full
of distracting thoughts and having one’s mind be immersed in the present
moment. As you can see, the person in the yellow shirt is folding laundry but their
mind is full of distracting thoughts, while the person in the purple shirt is folding
laundry and only placing their thoughts on the laundry itself. As you fold laundry
today, try to be mindful about how much attention and energy you are placing on
folding laundry. PLEASE CLICK THE "NEXT" BUTTON.
In addition to paying attention to ourselves and our actions in the present
moment, folding laundry allows one to practice a second important aspect of
mindfulness, which is acceptance. Acceptance within mindfulness entails feeling
okay about the fact that we might not always feel happy. Acceptance also entails
the ability to welcome all of our thoughts and emotional experiences. In other
words, acceptance means there is no “right” or “wrong” way to think and feel.
The fact that folding laundry is a relatively “easy” task that can allow one’s mind
to wander it presents an ideal opportunity to practice acceptance. For instance,
how often when doing a chore like washing dishes or folding laundry has your
mind wandered to a stressful task or event that will take place in the future (like a
difficult exam or project deadline)? A wandering mind can also recall past
experiences that were negative or stressful such as re-living an upsetting
interaction with a friend or remembering an embarrassing moment at work. If you
notice this happen to you while you fold laundry today, simply try and accept
such thoughts as okay and re-direct your attention to the task of folding laundry.
One way to think about acceptance is to imagine a mountain. No matter
what is going on in the world around it, a mountain remains unchanged. With a
solid foundation, a mountain can simply observe the changing seasons, knowing
that it will always be a mountain. As you fold laundry today, try to be like a
mountain. If your mind wanders and you are thinking about something stressful in
the future, try to accept these worries and refrain from beating yourself up or
feeling guilt and shame about those worries. If your mind wanders to a painful
memory from the past, remember this is okay too. The goal is to notice and accept
such thoughts and feelings. If you fold your laundry with this attitude, you will
practice the aspect of mindfulness known as acceptance. PLEASE CLICK THE
"NEXT" BUTTON.
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Here is a quick review of how you will try to fold your laundry today:
(1) Commit yourself to thinking only about the task-at-hand
(2) Make it a goal to concentrate or focus on the task throughout the time allowed
(3) Try to notice any time your mind has wandered
(4) If you notice your mind has wandered or you are not fully engaged, simply
notice this, nonjudgmentally, and re-focus your attention to the task once again
(5) If your mind continues to wander in spite of your best efforts, take a moment
and use your five senses to pay attention to the physical details-of-the-moment.
a. What sounds do you hear?
b. Can you use your hands to feel any textures?
c. Do you smell anything?
d. What colors can you see?
e. Are there any flavors present that you can almost taste?
Repeat #’s 1-5 as many times as necessary until the time period has ended.
The visual aid as well as the preceding mindfulness instructions that were presented
during the mindful laundry folding activity is located in Appendix C2.
2.5.7 Control Condition. Participants in the control condition were instructed to perform
the study activities “as they naturally would.” This included specific instructions that they were
free to text, take or make phone calls, or listen to music while they completed the study
activities. The instructions for each control condition activity were approximately four minutes
in length in order to mimic the procedures of the intervention condition. The control condition
instructions were also presented in both written and audio formats.
2.5.8 Control Instructions for Laundry Folding Activity. The laundry folding task the
instructions provided a step-by-step procedural guide on how to fold a shirt and a pair of pants.
These step-by-step instructions were presented as suggestions and that the emphasis was placed
on folding laundry as they normally would. The full instructions for the control laundry folding
activity were as follows:
You are about to fold laundry for a period of 10 minutes. Since this study
is interested in the habits of gamers, knowing how you perform a routine activity
like folding laundry is of interest to us. Therefore, we ask that you fold a pile of
laundry like you usually do. This means that as you are folding your laundry you
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may also do things like listen to music, check your phone and text messages, or
take any breaks that you might require during the 10-minute period.
Consequently, there is no “right way” or “wrong way” to fold your
laundry today. If you happen to finish folding your pile of laundry before the 10
minutes has ended you will be asked to take half the pile and re-fold it.
Though you may fold laundry any way you choose, the following
suggestions for how to fold certain items of clothing will be provided. These
instructions will remain available to you during the activity period so you may
refer back to them as needed (if you choose to use them). CLICK THE “NEXT”
BUTTON.
Please take a look at the following figure on how to fold a blouse or t-
shirt. As you can see, there are five steps involved in this process:
Lay shirt on a flat surface, front side down. Fold left arm towards the
center, then fold the right arm towards the center. Fold up the bottom half of the
shirt. Flip over. Now we will see how to fold a pair of slacks. PLEASE CLICK
THE “NEXT” BUTTON.
Now you can see a figure that describes how to fold a pair of pants or
slacks. Much like folding a t-shirt, there are five steps to this process:
Fold pants in half. Fold up the bottom half of the pants. Fold up the
bottom half of the pants once more. Flip pants over and you’re done. Both of
these figures will be shared with you and can be displayed during the study. Feel
free to reference them as often as needed if you want to follow these steps in
folding your laundry. PLEASE CLICK THE “NEXT” BUTTON.
We are now about to begin the study activity. Please keep in mind that the
steps provided for folding laundry are only suggestions. You are welcome to fold
the laundry as you normally would. Once again, it is okay to listen to music,
check your phone, and take any breaks you may need. You will be notified when
the 10 minute period has ended. As a reminder, if you happen to finish folding
your pile of laundry before the 10 minutes has ended you will be asked to take
half the pile and re-fold it. The point is to spend 10 minutes folding laundry.
YOU MAY NOW CLICK THE “NEXT” BUTTON.
The visual aid as well as the preceding task instructions for the control condition laundry folding
activity is located in Appendix C4.
2.5.9 Control Instructions for Videogame Play Activity. For the control condition
videogame play activity, the instructions included a brief history of videogames, but emphasized
that they are free to play their video game as they usually do. The full set of instructions were as
follows:
You are about to play a video game you have selected for a period of 20
minutes. Since this study is interested in better understanding how gamers play
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their games, we will ask that you play your video game today like you usually do.
This means you may do things such as listen to music, check your phone, or take
any breaks you require during the 15-minute free play period. Consequently, there
is no “right way” or “wrong way” to play your video game today. You should
play as you normally do. Since your inclusion in this study means you have
indicated you find video game play to be an enjoyable activity, you will now be
provided with some information about video games and video game play that you
may not already know.
Video games have a rich history and long tradition. One of the first ways
in which video game play became popular was the invention of arcade machines.
Some of the most popular arcade games include Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and
Street Fighter. Arcade machines can still be found in many restaurants and
entertainment-based establishments, and the aforementioned games are still
enjoyed by many players. However, video game play has now expanded far
beyond the arcade room. With the invention of consoles like Atarii and Nintendo
in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, people had the option to play video games
from home.
In the US alone, 63% of households have at least one person who plays
video games on a regular basis. That means there are millions of people in the US
who regularly play video games. Video games are now played on many different
platforms including cell phones, desktop or laptop computers, and individual
consoles like Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and Playstation. In addition to a multitude
of platforms, people have many different genres of video games to choose from
when they play. For example, action games like Call of Duty or Star Wars
Battlefront are typically fast paced and require a high level of hand-eye
coordination. Adventure games, such as Zelda or Final Fantasy, are typically
slower in pace, allow for more player exploration, and follow a main character as
a story unfolds. Casual games, like Candy Crush, are typically puzzle based and
meant to be easy to play. Exergames like many of the titles found on the Wii Fit
console, have motion sensors that track and respond to a player’s physical
movements; while mobile games like Pokémon Go use a player’s geolocation to
advance the game.
In addition to many platforms and genres, video games can also boast
about the diversity of the players themselves. A “gamer” is considered someone
who spends a minimum of 3 hours a week playing video games. There are large
numbers of gamers in almost all age groups, and, gamers are almost equally likely
to be male or female. Video game play is an activity that is practiced worldwide,
and some video games provide players with opportunities to interact with or
compete against other players online. Augmented and virtual-reality-based games
represent the next frontier in video games. One clear example of the potential
popularity these games has already been mentioned. Pokémon Go is a mobile
tablet or smart-phone-based game that utilized augmented reality to embed that
game’s characters in real-world locations, and was one of the most downloaded
and played games of all time.
As a reminder, you are about to play a video game you have selected for a
15-minute period. During this time, feel free to play the game as you usually do at
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home. Think of this as a free play period. You are allowed to take breaks, check
your phone, listen to music, or do whatever it is you do when you normally play.
Remember, this is the “habits of gamers” study, and the goal is to simply learn
more about how you play. There is no right or wrong way to play your game
today. The point of today is to simply play your game.
The preceding task instructions for the control videogame play activity is located in Appendix
C3. Neither set of control condition instructions contained information about mindfulness and
each stressed the fact that the participants were encouraged to perform these tasks as they
normally would.
2.6 Participant Baseline and Demographic Information
The mean age of the 123 participants was 21.76 (SD = 3.22). The mean age for the 63
participants in the mindfulness condition was 21.98 (SD = 3.71), while the mean age for the 60
participants in the control condition was 21.53 (SD = 2.62). Minimum age was 18 and the
maximum age was 32. Thus, there does not appear to be a major age discrepancy between the
intervention and control groups. The mean hours of video game play per week for the 123
participants was 12.96 (SD = 7.85). The mean hours of play per week for the 63 participants in
the Mindfulness condition was 14.10 (SD = 8.66), while the mean hours of play per week for the
60 participants in the Control condition was 11.77 (SD = 6.78). Thus, there does not appear to be
a major discrepancy in the amount of videogame play per week between the intervention and
control groups.
Demographic results indicate that 87.60% of participants reported they were single,
which is not surprising since the study pulled heavily from a university population. Fifty eight
point fifty four percent identified as male, thus, there does not appear to be a major discrepancy
for sex/gender identity within the study population. Table 1 presents the demographic
information for study participants. Also see Appendix D1 for a table with information that
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includes game selection data for the participants. Among the 123 participants there were 76
unique video games played that spanned a number of different genres.
2.7 Statistical Analysis Plan
The present study utilized two main approaches to analyze the data. In the first approach,
between-group differences for the mindfulness condition and the control condition was tested
with a one-way analysis of variance’s (ANOVAs) with two conditions. A separate one-way
ANOVA between the mindfulness and control groups was performed for each study activity (i.e.,
folding laundry and videogame play). Thus, a one-way ANOVA evaluated group differences
between the mindfulness and control conditions for the videogame play activity, and another
Table 1. Participant Demographics
Variable Mindfulness group Control group Total
Sex 122
Male 35 37 72
Female 25 21 46
Non-binary 2 0 2
Decline to state 0 2 2
Relationship status 121
Single 52 54 106
Married 1 1 2
Divorced/Separated 1 0 1
Partnered 8 4 12
Ethnicity 121
Asian 35 38 73
American-Indian 2 0 2
Black 2 1 3
Mexican-American 3 3 6
Latinx (non-Mexican-American) 2 4 6
Pacific Islander 2 0 2
White 15 11 26
Other
a
1 2 3
Note:
a
Text entry responses for the three “other” responses were “Bengali,” “half white half
Chinese,” and “Middle Eastern.”
64
one-way ANOVA evaluated group differences between the mindfulness and control conditions
for the laundry folding activity. These between-group, one-way ANOVAs were utilized for
group comparisons for aim 1 and aim 3 because such a statistical approach would allow for the
most direct group comparisons that concern those aims. A one-way ANOVA with two conditions
was utilized for the group comparisons of aim 1 and aim 3 for a number of reasons. First, in
order to include all of the study variables and conditions into one analysis, a linear mixed effects
model would have been needed. For such a linear mixed effects model the number of variables to
include would have made the model exceedingly complex (e.g., study condition, activity type,
order of activities, and multiple dependent variables) and would not have allowed for a fine-
grained analysis of within-group differences, which was needed for aim 2. As a result, the
present study decided to stratify the statistical analysis and focus on the specific group
comparisons needed for each study aim.
A paired-samples t-test was utilized as the second statistical approach for this study. The
paired-samples t-test was applied for the within-group comparison for aim 2. The paired samples
t-test assessed within-group differences related to outcome measures for each of the two study
activities within the mindfulness condition (i.e., mindful videogame play and mindful laundry
folding). These two approaches (one-way ANOVAs and paired samples t-tests) were chosen
because they would allow for the most direct group comparisons related to the three study aims.
3.0 Results
Table E1 within Appendix E1 presents all study data in terms of mean ± standard
deviation with standard error and 95% confidence intervals included.
65
3.1 Ordering Effects
To test for possible effects related to the order in which participants completed the study
activities, a one-way ANOVA was performed for each study activity within the mindfulness
condition where order-of-activities was used as the independent variable. Tables E2 and E3 in
Appendix E2 and E3 provides the means and standard deviations for outcome measure during
each session number, as well as the results of the ANOVAs that were performed for order
effects. For the mindful videogame play activity there were no mean differences based on the
order in which the activity took place. For the mindful laundry folding activity there were five
mean differences based on the order in which the laundry folding activity took place. The scales
with statistically significant (p <.01) mean differences between session #1 and session #2 for the
mindful laundry folding activity were the IMI effort, IMI interest/enjoyment, IMI composite, FSS
autotelic, and questions related to satisfaction with the activity. The mean differences for this
study activity (i.e., mindful laundry folding) were such that session #1 scores were greater than
session #2 scores for each scale. There were no other significant group differences. However,
since there were no order effects for the primary outcome measure for either mindfulness activity
these order effects did not likely affect the overall results. The significant mean differences for
session order during the mindful laundry folding activity will be discussed within the discussion
section.
3.2 Results for Aim 1: Mindfulness Training’s Impact on State-Based Mindfulness
Statistical Analysis. A one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was conducted to
determine if there were group differences for reported levels of state-based mindfulness for each
study activity as measured by the State Mindfulness Scale (SMS). This was done for the SMS
composite score as well as each of the two SMS subscales (SMS mind, SMS body). Participants
66
were classified into either a mindfulness (n = 59) or control (n = 58) condition for the
independent variable of the ANOVA. A separate one-way ANOVA was calculated for each
study activity (i.e., video game play or folding laundry). Results will be presented separately for
each activity. This comparison will help measure the impact of the intervention on its target
construct, state-based mindfulness. The scale was specified to reflect a participant’s level of
mindfulness during each study task. It was expected that participants who receive the
mindfulness training will report greater state-mindfulness scores than their control counterparts
for both study activities.
State Mindfulness Group Comparison: Mindful Videogame Play and Control
Videogame Play. Participants during the mindful videogame play activity reported greater levels
of state-based mindfulness that were statistically significant for all SMS scales. For the
videogame play activity there was a statistically significant difference between groups for the
SMS composite score as determined by one-way ANOVA F(1,116) = 16.89, p <.0001 (d = .76),
with higher scores being reported by the Mindfulness group (3.59 ± .71) as compared to the
Control group (3.06 ± .68). There was also a statistically significant difference between the
mindfulness and control groups for the SMS mind subscale as determined by a one-way ANOVA
F(1,116) = 19.97, p < .00001 (d = .83), with higher scores being reported by the mindfulness
group (3.82 ± .71) as compared to the control group (3.24 ± .71). Finally, there was a statistically
significant difference between groups for the SMS body subscale as determined by a one-way
ANOVA F(1,116) = 5.87, p < .05 (d = .45), with higher scores being reported by the mindfulness
group (2.99 ± .95) as compared to the control group (2.60 ± .79). Table 2 provides a summary of
one-way ANOVA results for the SMS with the mindfulness and control condition groups during
the video game play activity. Table 2 also provides a summary of one-way ANOVA scores for
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the mindfulness and control group comparison for both the videogame play and laundry folding
activity. Figure 2 provides the means and 95% confidence intervals for the SMS in the
mindfulness and control conditions during the videogame play activity.
State Mindfulness Group Comparison: Mindful Laundry Folding and Control
Laundry Folding Activities. Participants during the mindful laundry folding activity reported
greater levels of state-based mindfulness that were statistically significant for all SMS scales.
There was a statistically significant difference between groups for the SMS composite score as
determined by one-way ANOVA F(1,116) = 81.18, p <.0001 (d = 1.15), with higher scores being
reported by the Mindful laundry folding group (3.62 ± .59) as compared to the Control laundry
folding group (2.78 ± .84). There was also a statistically significant difference between groups
for the SMS mind subscale as determined by a one-way ANOVA F(1,116) = 87.44, p < .00001
(d = 1.21), with higher scores being reported by the mindful laundry activity (3.70 ± .58) as
compared to the control laundry folding activity (2.80 ± .88). Finally, there was a statistically
Table 2. One-Way ANOVA scores for State Mindfulness Scale by Group (Mindfulness v
Control): Videogame Play and Laundry Folding activities
Mindful Game Control Game
Predictor x ̄ SD x ̄ SD F P Cohens
d
State Mindfulness Scale
a
Mind 3.82 .71 3.24 .71 19.97 <.00001 .83
Body 2.99 .95 2.60 .79 5.87 .017 .45
Composite 3.59 .71 3.06 .68 16.89 <.0001 .76
Mindful Laundry Control Laundry
Predictor x ̄ SD x ̄ SD F P Cohens
d
State Mindfulness Scale
a
Mind 3.70 .58 2.80 .88 42.59 <.00001 1.21
Body 3.42 .83 2.74 .91 17.88 <.00001 .78
Composite 3.62 .59 2.78 .84 38.87 <.0001 1.15
Note.
N = 58 for control group, 59 for mindfulness group
a
State Mindfulness Scale (SMS) has a 5-point, self-report, Likert scale format.
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significant difference between groups for the SMS body subscale as determined by a one-way
ANOVA F(1,116) = 5.87, p < .05 (d = .45), with higher scores being reported by the mindful
laundry folding activity (3.42 ± .83) as compared to the control laundry folding activity (2.74 ±
.91). Table 2 provides a summary of one-way ANOVA results for the SMS with the mindfulness
and control condition groups during the video game play activity. Figure 3 provides the means
and 95% confidence intervals for the SMS in the mindfulness and control conditions during the
laundry folding activity.
3.3 Results for Aim 2: Impact of “Type” of Activity on Mindfulness Practice
Statistical Analysis. A paired samples t-test was utilized to make a within-subject
comparison of primary and secondary measures between the two study activities for participants
in the mindfulness condition. In other words, t-tests were used to compare the means of the
mindful videogame play activity and the mindful laundry folding activity. Results will be
presented separately for primary and secondary measures. Since this is the first study (to the
authors knowledge) to directly compare a mindfulness training when applied to these activities,
there is no a priori hypotheses for this aim.
Mindful Videogame and Mindful Laundry Comparison for Primary Outcome: State
Mindfulness Scale (SMS). There were no significant differences between mindful videogame
play and mindful laundry folding scores for the SMS composite score and the SMS mind
subscale. There was a significant difference in the means for the SMS body subscale with
participants reporting higher scores during the laundry folding activity (x ̄ = 3.42, SD = .83) as
compared to the video game play activity (x ̄ = 2.99, SD = .95); t(58) = 3.80, p < .001. Table 3
provides a summary of the SMS t-test scores for the within-subject comparison of mindful
laundry folding and mindful videogame play. Table 3 provides a summary of the t-test scores for
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study outcomes. This was a within-subject comparison for mindful laundry folding and mindful
video game play. The means and confidence intervals for the SMS composite score and
subscales are presented on Figure 4.
Table 3. t-test results for means of scores with statistically significant differences for
mindful videogame play and mindful laundry folding
Mindful Play Mindful Laundry
x ̄ SD x ̄ SD t-test Cohens
d
State Mindfulness Scale
Body 2.99 .95 3.42 .83 -3.80*** -.48
Intrinsic Motivation Inventory
Composite 5.44 .83 4.47 .81 7.10***** 1.18
Effort 5.32 1.10 4.54 1.36 4.43***** .63
Interest / Enjoyment 5.84 .93 3.75 1.25 10.37***** 1.90
Competence 5.23 .97 4.96 1.03 1.81* .28
Flow State Scale
Autotelic 3.88 .75 2.92 .78 7.46***** 1.26
Challenge 3.90 .76 3.35 .66 5.30***** .77
Concentration 3.88 .82 3.28 .92 4.75***** .68
Sense of Control 4.13 .71 3.89 .86 2.32* .30
Unambiguous
Feedback
3.96 .85 3.73 .74 2.08* .29
Composite 3.90 .54 3.54 .50 5.47***** .70
% Time “In the Zone” 84.84 14.37 71.65 20.23 4.71***** .75
Positive and Negative Affect Schedule - X
Positive .34 .69 -.15 .66 4.22**** .73
Negative .03 .39 -.17 .43 2.42* .50
Attentive .52 .83 .04 .66 3.94*** .64
Self-Assurance .17 .66 -.11 .61 2.32* .44
Acceptability of Intervention
Satisfaction 1.80 1.00 1.00 1.11 4.16**** .75
Importance/Relevance 1.48 .92 1.03 .95 3.09** .47
Likelihood to Practice 1.63 1.24 .97 1.88 2.49* .42
Note.
*p < .05
**p < .01
*** p < .001
****p < .0001
***** p < .00001
N = 59 for State Mindfulness Scale. N = 63 for all other measures.
70
Mindful Videogame and Mindful Laundry Comparison for Secondary Measures.
Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI). There were significant differences between the intrinsic
motivation that was reported for the videogame and laundry folding activities in the mindfulness
condition. The means were significantly greater for the IMI composite score during the video
game activity (x ̄ = 5.44, SD = .83) as opposed to the laundry folding activity (x ̄ = 4.47, SD =
.81); t(62) = 7.10, p < .00001. Mindful videogame play also reported greater means on several of
the IMI subscales as compared to the mindful laundry folding activity. The first such subscale
was Effort (x ̄ = 5.32, SD = 1.10 for video game play) (x ̄ = 4.54, SD = 1.36 for laundry folding);
t(62) = 4.43, p < .00001. The second IMI subscale with a significantly higher gameplay activity
mean was Interest / Enjoyment (x ̄ = 5.84, SD = .93 for videogame play) (x ̄ = 3.75, SD = 1.25 for
laundry folding); t(62) = 10.37, p < .00001. A third and final IMI subscale with a significantly
higher gameplay activity mean was Competence (x ̄ = 5.23, SD = .97 for videogame play) (x ̄ =
4.96, SD = 1.03 for laundry folding); t(62) = 1.81, p < .05. Table 3 provides a summary of the
IMI t-test scores for the within-subject comparison of the mindful laundry folding and mindful
videogame play activities. The means and confidence intervals for the IMI Composite score and
subscales are presented in Figure 6.
Flow State Scale (FSS) and Immersion. There were significant differences between the
immersion and flow that was reported for the mindful videogame play and mindful laundry
folding activities. The means were significantly greater for the FSS Composite score during the
mindful videogame activity (x ̄ = 3.90, SD = .54) as compared to the mindful laundry folding
activity (x ̄ = 3.54, SD = .50); t(62) = 5.47, p < .00001. The mindful videogame play activity also
reported greater means on several of the FSS subscales when compared to the mindful laundry
folding activity. The first such subscale was FSS Autotelic (x ̄ = 3.88, SD = .75 for video game
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play) (x ̄ = 2.92, SD = .78 for laundry folding); t(62) = 7.46, p < .00001. The second FSS subscale
with a significantly higher game play activity mean was FSS Challenge (x ̄ = 3.90, SD = .76 for
videogame play) (x ̄ = 3.35, SD = .66 for laundry folding); t(62) = 5.30, p < .00001. A third FSS
subscale with a significantly higher game activity mean score was FSS Concentration (x ̄ = 3.88,
SD = .82 for videogame play) (x ̄ = 3.28, SD = .92 for laundry folding); t(62) = 4.75, p < .00001.
The fourth FSS subscale with a significantly higher game activity mean score was Sense of
Control (x ̄ = 4.13, SD = .71 for videogame play) (x ̄ = 3.89, SD = .86 for laundry folding); t(62) =
2.32, p < .05. A fifth FSS subscale with a significantly higher game activity mean score was
Unambiguous Feedback (x ̄ = 3.96, SD = .85 for videogame play) (x ̄ = 3.73, SD = .74 for laundry
folding); t(62) = 2.08, p < .05. There were no other statistically significant group differences
between study activities for the FSS. For the question about how much time each participant
spent “in the zone’ during the study activity there was a significantly higher score for the mindful
videogame play activity as compared to the mindful laundry folding activity (x ̄ = 84.84, SD =
14.37 for videogame play) (x ̄ = 71.65, SD = 20.23 for laundry folding); t(62) = 4.71, p < .00001.
Table 3 provides a summary of the flow and immersion t-test scores for the within-subject
comparison for mindful laundry folding and mindful video game play. The means and
confidence intervals for the IMI Composite score and subscales are presented on Figures 7 and 8.
The means and confidence intervals for the percentage of time “in the zone” is presented on
Figure 9.
Positive and Negative Affective Schedule-X (PANAS-X). There were significant
differences between the change in emotions that was reported for the mindful videogame activity
and the mindful laundry folding activity. The means were significantly greater for the PANAS-X
Positive Domain during the mindful videogame activity (x ̄ = .34, SD = .69) as opposed to the
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mindful laundry folding activity (x ̄ = -.15, SD = .66); t(62) = 4.22, p < .0001. the mindful
videogame play activity also reported greater means on the PANAS-X Attentive Domain (x ̄ =
.52, SD = .83) when compared to the mindful laundry folding activity (x ̄ = .04, SD = .66); t(62) =
3.94, p < .001. The final PANAS-X change score that was significantly greater for the mindful
videogame play activity was Self-Assurance (x ̄ = .17, SD = .66 for video game play) (x ̄ = -.11,
SD = .61 for laundry folding); t(62) = 2.32, p < .05. There was a statistically significant
difference in the PANAS-X Negative Domain in which the mindful laundry folding activity
reported a significantly greater reduction in negative emotions (x ̄ = -.17, SD = .43) when
compared to the mindful videogame play activity (x ̄ = .03, SD = .39); t(62) = 2.42, p < .05. There
was not a significant difference in the PANAS-X Serenity. Table 3 provides a summary of the
PANAS-X change score t-tests for the within-subject comparison of mindful laundry folding and
mindful videogame play. The means and confidence intervals for the PANAS-X change scores
are presented in Figure 10.
Satisfaction, Relevance, Ease-of-Task, and Likelihood for Future Mindfulness
Practice. A paired-sample t-test was used to compare within-subject differences on the study
activity as it relates to the satisfaction, personal relevance/importance of the activity, ease-of-
task, and likelihood to practice mindfulness in the future measures were given. It was
hypothesized that participants would report greater levels of satisfaction, importance/relevance,
and likelihood to practice in the future during the mindful videogame activity as opposed to the
mindful laundry folding activity. It was further hypothesized that participants would find
videogame play to be the more effective task for mindfulness practice and that more participants
would prefer to practice mindfulness in the future with videogame play as opposed to folding
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laundry. Table 3 provides a summary of these change score t-tests for the within-subject
comparison of mindful laundry folding and mindful videogame play.
There were significant differences between tasks on several of these within-group
comparisons. The means were significantly greater for the satisfaction scale during the mindful
videogame activity (x ̄ = 1.80, SD = 1.00) as compared to the mindful laundry folding activity (x ̄
= 1.00, SD = 1.11); t(62) = 4.16, p < .0001. The mindful videogame play activity also reported
greater means on the importance/relevance scale in comparison to the mindful laundry folding
activity (x ̄ = 1.48, SD = .92 for video game play) (µ = 1.03, SD = .95 for laundry folding); t(62)
= 3.09, p < .01. The mean score for the likelihood to practice in the future scale was also
significantly higher for the mindful videogame play activity when compared to mindful laundry
folding (x ̄ = 1.63, SD = 1.24 for videogame play) (x ̄ = .97, SD = 1.88 for laundry folding); t(62)
= 2.49, p < .05. There was no significant difference between tasks for the ease of activity scale.
The means and confidence intervals for these measures are presented in Figure 12. Participants
reported that they were significantly more likely to practice mindfulness in the future with video
game play (x ̄ = 1.63, SD = 1.24) when compared to the laundry folding activity (x ̄ = .97, SD =
1.88); t(62) = 2.49, p <.05. The means and confidence intervals for future likelihood to practice
are presented in Figure 13.
Acceptability of Intervention for those in Mindfulness condition. Participants in the
mindfulness condition were prompted to answer several forced-multiple-choice style questions in
relation to the mindfulness intervention at the end of the second study session. In order to
measure the perceived effectiveness of the mindfulness intervention, participants were asked the
following question, “during this study, you were asked to perform two different activities in a
‘mindful’ way. Which activity do you feel was more effective in teaching you mindfulness?”
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The choices for this prompt were “video game play,” “folding laundry,” “neither helped me
learn,” and “both helped me learn equally.” A majority of the participants indicated that they
found video game play to be a more effective activity in teaching mindfulness (n = 27) when
compared to a laundry folding activity (n = 22). If one combines participants who found video
game play to be a more effective teaching activity (n = 27) with participants who stated that both
activities were equally effective in training mindfulness (n = 14), 65.08 percent (41/63) of the
participants in the mindfulness group perceived video game play to be an effective activity to
learn mindfulness. Figure 14 presents the frequency of responses for the perceived effectiveness
of task in training mindfulness.
A second question that was asked at the end of the second study session for those in the
mindfulness group was, “Which activity would you most likely utilize to ‘practice’ mindfulness
in the future?” The choices for this prompt were “video game play,” “folding laundry,”
“neither,” and “both.” A majority of the participants indicated that they would prefer to practice
mindfulness with video game play (n = 28) as opposed to folding laundry (n = 18). If one
combines participants who would prefer to practice mindfulness with a video game (n = 28) with
participants who stated that they would like to practice mindfulness with both tasks equally (n =
15), 68.25 percent (43/63) of the participants in the mindfulness group stated they would utilize
video game play to practice mindfulness in the future. Figure 15 presents the frequency of
responses for task preference in relation to future mindfulness practice. Table 4 has the
frequencies of responses for both of the acceptability questions that were asked of those in the
mindfulness group at the end of the second study session.
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3.4 Results for Aim 3: How Does Training in Mindfulness Impact Videogame Play
Statistical Analysis. A one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was conducted to
determine if there were group differences for the secondary measures of intrinsic motivation,
change in affect from pre- to post-activity, immersion, satisfaction, and personal
importance/relevance that participants reported for each activity. Participants were classified into
either a mindfulness (n = 63) or control (n = 60) condition for the independent variable of the
ANOVA. A separate one-way ANOVA was calculated for each study task (i.e., video game play
or folding laundry). Table E1 in Appendix E1 presents the mean scores for these secondary
measures in terms of mean ± standard deviation with standard error and 95% confidence
intervals included.
Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI); Mindful Gameplay versus Control Gameplay.
There were several statistically significant differences between the mindfulness and control
conditions for the IMI when the activity was videogame play. Specifically, the IMI composite
score as well as several IMI subscales were greater for the mindful videogame activity when
Table 4. Frequencies and percentages for “Acceptability” questions about the mindfulness
intervention
Frequency Percent Total
Which Activity More Effective Teaching Mindfulness?
Video Game Play 27 42.86
Laundry Folding 22 34.92
Both Equal 14 22.22
Neither 0 0
Which Activity Preferred for Future Practice?
Video Game Play 28 44.44
Laundry Folding 18 28.57
Will Practice Both Equally 15 23.81
Will Practice with Neither 2 3.17
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compared to the control videogame activity. There was a statistically significant difference
between groups for the IMI composite score as determined by one-way ANOVA F(1,121) =
5.42, p < .05 (d = .42), with higher scores being reported by the mindful videogame play activity
(x ̄ = 5.44 ± .83) as compared to the control videogame play activity (x ̄ = 5.11 ± .75). There was
also a statistically significant difference between groups for the IMI Effort subscale as
determined by a one-way ANOVA F(1,121) = 20.88, p < .00001 (d = .82), with higher scores
being reported by the mindful videogame activity (x ̄ = 5.32 ± 1.10) as compared to the control
videogame play activity (x ̄ = 4.32 ± 1.33). The IMI Value subscale also had statistically
significant group difference as determined by a one-way ANOVA F(1,121) = 5.76, p < .05 (d =
.43), with higher scores being reported by the mindful videogame play group (x ̄ = 5.22 ± 1.30) as
compared to the control videogame play activity (x ̄ = 4.69 ± 1.15). There were no significant
group differences between groups for the IMI subscales of Interest and Competence. Table 5
provides a summary of one-way ANOVA results for the IMI with the mindfulness and control
condition groups during the videogame play activity. Figure 5 provides the means and 95%
confidence intervals for the IMI in the mindfulness and control conditions during the videogame
play activity.
Flow State Scale (FSS) and Immersion; Mindful Gameplay versus Control Gameplay.
There were no significant differences between FSS scores for the mindfulness and control groups
during the video game play activity. There were also no statistically significant differences
between these two groups for the percentage of time “in the zone” question.
Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-X (PANAS-X); Mindful Gameplay versus
Control Gameplay. There were no significant differences between PANAS-X scores for the
mindfulness and control groups during the video game play activity.
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Satisfaction and Importance/Relevance; Mindful Gameplay versus Control Gameplay.
There were several statistically significant differences between the mindful videogame play
activity and the control videogame play activity on measures related to satisfaction,
importance/relevance and ease-of-task. There was a statistically significant difference between
groups for importance/relevance score as determined by one-way ANOVA F(1,121) = 4.91, p >
.05 (d = .40), with higher scores being reported by the mindful videogame play activity (x ̄ = 1.47
± .92) as compared to the control videogame play activity (x ̄ = 1.08 ± 1.04). There was also a
statistically significant difference between groups for the ease of task score as determined by a
one-way ANOVA F(1,121) = 6.23, p > .05 (d = -.45), with higher scores being reported by the
control videogame play activity (x ̄ = 2.53 ± .87) as compared to the mindful videogame play
activity (x ̄ = 1.98 ± 1.48). There was not a significant group differences for the satisfaction
measure.
Table 5 provides a summary of one-way ANOVA results for these questions with the
mindfulness and control condition groups during the video game play activity. Figure 11
provides the means and 95% confidence intervals.
3.5 Other Results: A Brief Note About Mindful Laundry Folding Compared to Natural
Laundry Folding
Table E4 within Appendix E4 includes the ANOVA scores of the group comparisons for
the mindful laundry and control laundry folding activities. In order to focus the study’s
discussion on the main aims of the paper, a full interpretation of the results from this group
comparison is beyond the scope of the present study. It should be noted that, in addition to state-
based-mindfulness, the mindful laundry activity reported greater means for the following
subscales when compared to the control laundry folding activity; IMI-effort, FSS-action-
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awareness, FSS-challenge, and FSS-sense of control. Thus, participants who received the
mindfulness training prior to folding laundry reported that they put more effort into the activity
and found the activity more challenging as compared to the control laundry folding activity.
4.0 Discussion
The present study was designed to evaluate the immediate impact of a training in applied
mindfulness that was presented to a group of “gamer” participants prior to the completion of two
different activities (i.e., videogame play and folding laundry). The aim was to better understand
the short-term effects of mindfulness practice when such practice was applied to the performance
of an enjoyable (intrinsically motivated) activity and when such practice was applied to the
Table 5. One-way ANOVA scores with significant differences by Group: Mindful
videogame play (Mindful VGP) and Control videogame play (Control VGP)
Mindful VGP Control VGP
Predictor x ̄ SD x ̄ SD F P Cohens d
Primary Outcome
State Mindfulness Scale
a
Mind 3.82 .71 3.24 .71 19.97 <.00001 .83
Body 2.99 .95 2.60 .79 5.87 .017 .45
Composite 3.59 .71 3.06 .68 16.89 <.0001 .76
Secondary Outcomes
Intrinsic Motivation Inventory
b
Composite 5.44 .83 5.11 .75 5.42 .02 .42
Effort 5.32 1.10 4.32 1.33 20.88 <.00001 .82
Value 5.22 1.30 4.69 1.15 5.76 .02 .43
Semantic Differential Scales
c
Importance /
Relevance
1.48 .92 1.08 1.04 4.91 .03 .40
Ease of Task 1.98 1.48 2.53 .87 6.23 .01 -.45
Note.
N = 60 for control group, 63 for mindfulness group on all secondary measures
a
State Mindfulness Scale (SMS) has a 5-point, self-report, Likert scale format.
b
Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) has a 7-point, self-report, Likert scale format.
c
Semantic Differential Scales were forced-choice with seven response options between
each of the two word anchors. A score of “3” was used for the most positive responses, a
score of “-3” was used for the most negative response, and a neutral mark in the middle of
the two word anchors was scored “0.” A negative score reflects a more negative answer.
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performance of a more routine, everyday activity. This project was meant to extend prior
mindfulness literature in several ways including (a) to provide more information about the
immediate effects of a mindfulness-based practice strategy, (b) to evaluate how enjoyment
impacts a mindfulness-based practice strategy in comparison to a more routine and everyday
activity, and (c) to directly compare “mindful” videogame play with a natural videogame play
condition in order to assess what benefits there are in teaching gamers how to play their
videogame in a more “mindful” way.
The results of the study demonstrated that the mindfulness training was effective at
increasing state-based mindfulness during both study activities as compared to a control
condition performing the same activities with no mindfulness training. The comparison of
outcomes between the two activities within the mindfulness condition demonstrated that both
activities produced similar levels of state-mindfulness. Yet, mindfulness group participants
reported more enjoyment, motivation, and flow/immersion during the videogame activity, as well
as a greater increases in positive affect, higher levels of satisfaction, and higher levels of
personal relevance/importance when compared to the mindful laundry folding activity.
Participants in the mindfulness condition also reported that applied mindfulness practice with
videogame play was more effective at teaching them mindfulness than folding laundry and that
they were more likely to practice applied mindfulness in the future with a video game in
comparison to folding laundry.
Related to this finding were the ordering effects found in the mindful laundry folding
condition where participants’ interest and enthusiasm for the task was significantly reduced if
they performed the laundry folding activity during the second study session. This helps confirm
the author’s hypothesis that mindfulness, when applied to an enjoyable activity, may help
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improve long-term mindfulness practice. There were also several interesting findings when
secondary measures were compared for the mindful videogame play activity and the control or
natural videogame play activity. Specifically, participants in the mindful videogame play activity
reported greater levels of effort put forth, valued the activity significantly more, and found
playing their game in a mindful way to be more challenging than those in the control videogame
play activity. This suggests that when participants in the mindfulness condition were given the
added task of playing their videogame in a mindful way, they found the mindfulness application
to be meaningful for their gameplay and subsequently put forth more effort into their play as
compared to the participants in the control condition.
Generally, the results indicated that the application of mindfulness to an enjoyable
activity (grounded in intrinsic motivation) can produce similar increases in state-based
mindfulness as its application to a typical “everyday” activity. Yet, participants reported
enjoying the applied mindfulness practice much more when such practice was done with an
activity that is inherently more engaging (i.e., videogame play) than when it was done with
something more mundane (i.e., laundry folding). This lends support to the idea that a) applied
mindfulness practice may be a feasible way to enhance one’s ability to be mindful, even when
“formal” mindfulness training is absent, and b) mindfulness-based practice, when applied to an
enjoyable and intrinsically motivated activity, may be an important avenue through which
mindfulness-based homework compliance can be enhanced. Further, the results indicate that, as
videogame play enhanced the experience of mindfulness, mindfulness enhanced the experience
of videogame play. This is evident by the greater value attributed to the activity and greater effort
put forth by participants in the mindful videogame play activity as compared to the control
videogame play activity. Simply put, these findings make the application of mindfulness to
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enjoyable and intrinsically motivated activities an important avenue for further exploration. What
will now follow is a more in-depth interpretation of these results. The limitations of the current
study and future directions will also be addressed. Given the large number of significant group
differences that were found throughout aims 1-3, this paper will focus on the interpretation of
results that demonstrated the largest effect sizes, since large effect sizes indicate scores that have
a great magnitude of difference.
4.1 Applied Mindfulness Training Works to Increase State-Based-Mindfulness
The mindfulness condition reported significantly higher levels of state-based
mindfulness, according to the State Mindfulness Scale (SMS), when compared to the control
condition. This was true for every SMS subscale (mind, body, composite) and the differences
were significantly different across both activities. Thus, it is clear that the intervention was
effective in producing temporary increases in one’s ability to be “mindful.” This finding was
expected and is consistent with similar studies that have evaluated the short-term impact of an
applied mindfulness training paradigm (e.g., Hanley et al., 2015). These results add to a growing
list of activities that may have good utility as vehicles for applied mindfulness practice. It is
important to note once again the setting for this study. Participants received a brief (~4 minute),
standardized training in mindfulness that was presented via a Qualtrics link and applied to
whatever videogame a participant decided to play. Moreover, the study activities were completed
in each participants’ own homes. However, in spite of the brief nature of the mindfulness
training and the lack of tightly controlled study-session environments, this mindfulness training
had a big impact on state-based mindfulness. Thus, it seems, even the seemingly small dose of
mindfulness that was utilized in this study was able to effectively increase state-based
mindfulness as compared to a control condition.
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The aforementioned group differences are also important because they confirm that the
manipulation in this study was effective. The effectiveness of the manipulation allows for the
interpretation of the rest of the study results. Since aim 2 measured the impact of mindfulness
training when such training was applied to videogame play and when it was applied to laundry
folding and aim 3 measured the impact of mindfulness training for videogame play when
compared to a control condition, the establishment that the manipulation was effective was
imperative.
4.2 Interpretation of Mindful Videogame Play Versus Mindful Laundry Folding Results
Participants in the mindfulness group reported roughly similar levels of state-based
mindfulness, which was the primary target of the study. The one significant difference was that
greater levels of awareness about physical sensations (i.e., SMS-body) were reported during the
mindful laundry folding activity as compared to the mindful gameplay activity. This may be
explained by the fact that, as an activity, folding laundry requires more physical actions and
proprioceptive awareness than the videogames that were played in this study required. This
finding will be addressed more in the future directions section. Although both activities in the
mindfulness condition reported similar levels of state-based mindfulness, the mindful videogame
play and mindful laundry activities had many significant differences in the secondary outcome
measures.
Participants during the mindful videogame activity reported greater levels of effort,
interest/enjoyment, and competence within the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) as well as
the IMI composite score when compared to the mindful laundry activity. Importantly, the IMI
subscale of interest/enjoyment, considered the best scale to assess the core construct of intrinsic
motivation, had the largest effect size in the study with mindful videogame play producing much
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greater levels of enjoyment than the mindful laundry folding activity (d = 1.90). This means that,
while both activities evoked similar levels of state-based mindfulness, participants reported a
sizeable increase in enjoyment and motivation for the activity when the mindfulness training was
applied to a videogame in comparison to laundry folding. This confirms the aim 2 hypothesis
that participants in the mindfulness condition would report more motivation and enjoyment
during the study activity when the mindfulness training was applied to videogame play as
opposed to laundry folding.
The mindful gameplay condition participants also reported greater levels of flow and
immersion. Specifically, the mindful gameplay condition participants reported significantly
greater levels on the Flow State Scale (FSS) subscales of autotelic, challenge, concentration,
sense of control, a clearer sense of what the task-at-hand was (i.e., unambiguous feedback), the
FSS composite subscale as well as a greater percentage of time reportedly spent “in the zone”
during the task as compared to mindful laundry. Since the FSS autotelic is considered the best
representation of “flow,” the interpretation of FSS results will focus on this subscale.
The mean difference between FSS autotelic between mindful gameplay and mindful
laundry had large effects (d = 1.26), indicating that participants felt far more immersed in the
activity when they mindfully played their game as opposed to mindfully folding their laundry.
One hypothesis of this study was that videogame play may serve as a good activity for applied
mindfulness practice because “gamers” are primed to excel at the “attentiveness-to-present-
moment” aspect of mindfulness. These results seem to support this hypothesis. If we harken back
to some of the difficulties reported with formal mindfulness practice (e.g., boredom, frustration,
no time, etc.), these elevated levels of interest/enjoyment demonstrate that intrinsically motivated
activities may be able to address those issues in a very direct way. This is supported further by
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the elevated scores for FSS autotelic mentioned before. Moreover, 65.08 percent of mindful
participants perceived videogame play to be an effective activity to learn mindfulness and 68.25
percent of mindful participants reported that they would utilize videogame play to practice
mindfulness in the future. Taken together, a clear picture emerges that videogame play can not
only be a vehicle to practice improving state-based mindfulness, but it may be an ideal way to
enhance mindfulness-based practices through the enjoyment participants report while practicing.
These results necessitate further exploration of videogame play as a vehicle for applied
mindfulness practice.
Another result to note were the ordering effects during the mindful laundry folding
activity. Participants reported significantly lower levels of effort, enjoyment, flow, and
satisfaction (i.e., IMI effort, IMI interest/enjoyment, IMI composite, FSS autotelic, and
satisfaction with the activity) when the mindful laundry folding took place in the second study
session as opposed to the first. This finding is consistent with the aforementioned problems that
long-term mindfulness practice can have, including low levels of practice compliance. This
ordering effect was not present in any way for the mindful videogame activity. Thus, it seems
that the mindful videogame play was interesting, enjoyable, and engaging no matter when it took
place during the study. Whereas participants seemed to lose interest and enthusiasm for
mindfulness practice if they folded laundry for the second study session after having played a
videogame mindfully during their first study session. This finding may imply that participants
were disappointed or unenthusiastic about applying mindfulness to a more mundane activity after
having experienced the practice with a more enjoyable activity. The fact that participants
reported similar levels of engagement and motivation during mindful videogame play activity no
matter in which session it took place, supports the contention that the application of mindfulness
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to enjoyable activities may be an ideal avenue to increase engagement and compliance with
applied mindfulness practice. This has been echoed in other studies. Client preference and being
given choices when deciding the course of the therapeutic process has been shown to lead to
better treatment outcomes (e.g., Lindhiem, Bennett, Trentascosta, & McLear, 2014). Better
therapeutic outcomes have also been demonstrated through the enhancement of client
motivation, wherein clients who are more motivated will be more fully engaged throughout the
course of therapy (e.g., Ryan, Lynch, Vansteenkiste, & Deci, 2011). There is even some
evidence to suggest that factors like engagement and motivation in therapy are transtheoretical
common factors that can help enhance the general effectiveness across many different
therapeutic modalities (e.g., Norcross & Wampold, 2011a; 2011b). Consequently, an approach to
applied mindfulness practice where adherents are given more options among activities,
particularly one’s that they intrinsically enjoy, may serve to enhance motivation for and
engagement with such practice.
In addition to more engagement and motivation, there is ample evidence to suggest that
individualizing a treatment approach can lead to optimal treatment outcomes. A meta-analysis of
studies that followed client preferences in the treatment decision-making process found that
clients who were matched with their preferred treatment option reported significantly greater
benefits from therapy and were less likely to drop out of therapy than their non-matched
counterparts (Swift & Callahan, 2009). Said another way, a client’s input and preferences should
be a central concern when thinking about the application and effectiveness of a given
intervention. Consequently, any investigation that sheds light on how to increase factors like
client engagement, motivation, and individualization within the context of psychological
interventions has implications that can be far-reaching in the field. This study follows calls that
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have been made to learn more about and optimize the individualization of therapeutic
interventions (e.g., Cohen & DeRubeis, 2018). The results of this study are consistent with the
empirical evidence that has suggested treatment motivation and engagement can be enhanced
when an intervention is applied in a way that seems individualized (in this study, the self-
selection of a videogame).
Videogame play further produced significantly greater changes in mood from pre to post-
task with increases in Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-X (PANAS-X) subscales of
positive domain, attentiveness, and self-assurance. There was also a significant difference in the
PANAS-X negative domain where mindful gameplay reported a .03 mean increase whereas the
mindful laundry reported a .17 decrease (1-5 Likert Scale). Thus, it seems, mindful videogame
play was more effective in evoking a wide range of emotions when compared to mindful laundry
folding. This is consistent with research that has demonstrated the wide range of emotional
responses users have during videogame play (e.g., Granic, Ingles, & Lobel), whereas laundry
folding, on the other hand, is more mundane in nature. An argument could be made that this
increased emotional response during gameplay is advantageous for mindfulness practice.
Specifically, if one superordinate goal of “mindfulness” is to create more awareness of thoughts
and feelings in the present moment, utilizing an activity that rouses one’s emotions would
provide more opportunities to notice and respond to such emotional reactions. This could, in
turn, help one enhance their ability to notice changes in thoughts and feelings in real time. For
example, in the Stress Inoculation Training (SIT) literature the “inoculation” component calls for
one to be exposed to a stimulus strong enough to evoke a strong emotional response, yet not so
strong as to overwhelm the individual (Meichenbaum, 1975a, 1975b, 1993). In SIT, allowing
individuals an opportunity to experience and successfully deal with minor stressors increases
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resilience and bolsters psychological preparedness and coping mechanisms (Barlow, 2007). By
utilizing emotionally evocative activities like videogame play for applied mindfulness practice,
mindfulness-based interventions may be able to help adherents raise their awareness about real-
time changes to thoughts and feelings that accompany their emotional arousal. In utilizing more
mundane activities there may be less opportunity for an adherent to notice changes in their
thoughts and feelings.
The central question of aim 2 was how does type of activity impact the application of a
mindfulness training procedure. In total, the results from the comparison of mindful videogame
play with mindful laundry folding suggests that videogame play may be an optimal activity for
practice in the application of mindfulness to non-meditative settings. This is due to the fact that
participants reported a greater likelihood to practice mindfulness in the future, reported the
intervention was more effective in teaching mindfulness, enjoyed the activity and felt more of an
immersive state when the mindfulness training was applied to a participant’s videogame of
choice as opposed to folding their laundry. Moreover, participants reported greater levels of
satisfaction and personal importance/relevance when the intervention was applied to the
videogame play activity. Given the promising nature of the results as they pertain to videogame
play, it is possible that these results would be replicated if this study design was extended to
other intrinsically motivated activities. More work should be done to see if these findings would
generalize to other intrinsically motivated activities.
One note about these results as they relate to the control condition activities. The mean
differences of the control videogame play activity and the control laundry folding activity
followed a similar pattern where videogame play produced much greater levels of enjoyment and
motivation to perform the task. Since the study was more interested in the analysis of the
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mindfulness manipulation there was no statistical analysis made comparing outcomes between
the control condition activities. However, it is believed that the results of such an analysis would
produce similar results because the differences in means are similar between the activities for
both conditions.
4.3 Interpretation of Results for Mindful Videogame Play Compared to Control Videogame
Play
Aim 1 demonstrated that participants in the mindfulness condition reported significantly
greater levels of state-based mindfulness during the videogame activity (i.e., SMS-mind, SMS-
body, SMS-composite) when compared to the control videogame play activity. The crux of aim 3
was to better understand if a more mindful approach to videogame play had any advantages or
benefits when compared to natural (unstructured) videogame play. The results of this analysis
support the idea that there may be added benefits to utilizing videogame play for mindfulness
practice as opposed to strictly playing videogames for leisure or enjoyment. There were some
significant differences between these groups on secondary study measures that support this
interpretation. During the mindful videogame play activity participants put forth more effort into
the activity, valued the activity significantly more, found the activity to be more important or
relevant (i.e., IMI-effort, IMI-value, Personal importance/relevance of activity questions), and
found playing their game in a mindful way to be more challenging than those during the control
videogame play activity (i.e., ease of task question).
While there were a number of group differences between mindful and control videogame
play, there were also some important similarities between these groups as well. For instance,
there were no differences reported between the mindfulness and control groups for IMI-enjoy
and FSS-autotelic during the videogame play activity. Such equivalent levels of enjoyment and
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immersion reported between mindfulness and control participants during the videogame play
activity would seem to indicate that participants in the mindfulness group did not perceive the
mindfulness practice to be boring, frustrating, or a detriment to their ability to immerse
themselves in their gaming experience. The results of this comparison also suggest that
participants who played their game mindfully embraced the opportunity to do so when compared
to the control group. This is due to the fact that participants in the mindfulness group, while
enjoying and immersing themselves in the activity as much as their control counterparts, also
reported putting forth significantly more effort into the activity. These results support the idea
that a mindfulness-based intervention geared towards a gamer population may be of interest to
and beneficial for this population.
Another result that is important to discuss is the fact that participants in the control
videogame activity rated their gameplay as significantly easier to perform than their mindful
videogame play counterparts. In spite of the fact that mindful videogame play was rated as more
challenging than videogame play in the control condition, mindful gamers reported putting forth
more effort into the activity. Yet, even though mindful videogame play was more challenging
and required more effort from participants, they still reported enjoying the activity to the same
extent as their control counterparts. There are a few studies that can help interpret this outcome.
Sherry and colleagues (2006) surveyed over 1,000 gamers in order to understand what factors
related to videogame play were most appealing to led to the greatest gratification during a
gaming experience. Among the most frequently reported aspects of gaming that led to
gratification were “competition” “challenge” and “escape” or stress relief (e.g., Sherry et al.,
2006). Thus, it seems, gamers enjoy a challenge. It is possible that the added demand of playing
the videogame in a mindful way felt rewarding or gratifying to participants because it provided
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an extra layer of “challenge” for their gameplay experience in terms of the sustained attention
needed to perform the activity mindfully. Although “gratification” as defined by Sherry (2004)
was not assessed in this study, the increased scores for the mindful videogame activity on the
IMI-value subscale seem to support this interpretation. One interesting note about these results
are the similarities to some of the findings of aim 2. Namely, in both comparisons (mindful
gameplay versus mindful laundry folding and mindful gameplay versus control gameplay)
mindful videogame play was reported to be a greater challenge for participants to perform, yet,
such increased challenge dis not seem to detract from them having an enjoyable experience while
applying mindfulness to videogame play.
4.4 Limitations
In spite of the promising results from this study, the findings must be considered in
relation to the following limitations. The first limitation relates to what variables may have
mediated or moderated the observed changes in the study. For example, in the introduction it was
argued that videogame play was selected because it is an intrinsically motivating activity and
because videogames themselves, and aspects about the process of gameplay, have immersive
properties similar to mindfulness (e.g., interactivity and scaffolding). Thus, the role of autonomy
cannot be fully understood because it is almost impossible to separate from the impact the game
itself would have had. An interesting follow-up study would be to utilize a similar study design
and allow for one group of gamers to self-select their game and the other group of gamers to play
a standardized videogame. This would allow for an assessment of the impact that autonomous
choice had when compared to some of the immersive properties of games themselves.
A second limitation of this study is that all dependent variables were measured via self-
report. This can be problematic since self-report measures can introduce many biases and are
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subject to confounding variables that can influence outcomes (e.g., Schwarz, 1999). However, to
address this issue the study utilized measures that have been well-validated to assess their target
constructs. This was done to reduce the impact that such biases may have had on the results.
Future studies that measure the impact of applied mindfulness practice with more objective
measures (e.g., heart rate or eye tracking) would add considerably to this literature.
A third limitation is that the current study did not assess the impact that videogame genre
may have had on mindfulness practice. It stands to reason that a fast-paced action videogame
may not lend itself to internally focused awareness as well as a slow-paced videogame that is
more relaxing to play. Moreover, it is possible that the goal-directed nature of many games
undermines the “acceptance” attitude that mindfulness emphasizes. Yet, the role of autonomy is
so important to intrinsic motivation that the ability for a participant to self-select the game with
which they practiced was prioritized over maintaining tighter control over what genre of game
was played. Since intrinsic motivation was a central construct within the study, we found this
trade-off to be acceptable. Future studies interested in this topic should begin to consider how
videogame genre impacts the mindfulness practice.
A fourth limitation of the study is that there may have been some form of sampling bias.
This is due to the fact that the average age of participants was 21.7, 106 of the 123 reported
being single, and 73 of 123 identified as Asian. The result of this potential sampling bias may
limit the generalizability of the findings. However, the population in this study is still relevant
because many gamers are young, single, and college educated like the sample in this study.
A fifth limitation was the fact that the study sessions were done via Zoom, which means
that the experimental conditions were not as standardized as was originally intended for the
study. It is possible that certain characteristics that differ between participants’ homes influenced
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results. For example, differences in home settings like the amount of ambient noise, size of
room, or size of screen used for gameplay may have influenced some of the results. Yet, the
setting of the study may have also had some unintended benefits. Since the study was done
within each participant’s home on a standardized intervention that was presented within a
Qualtrics link, the results suggest that dissemination of these interventions may be effective if
delivered in web-based platforms. There is some evidence to suggest this may be a fruitful
avenue to pursue, and the results of the present study add to the body of literature that state this.
One outcome to address in this section is the fact that, within the mindfulness group, the
laundry folding activity produced significantly greater levels of mindful body awareness (i.e.,
SMS body) than the videogame activity. This may have occurred because the videogames being
played in the study were required to be sit-and-play, screen-based videogames. This, for the most
part, meant that most participants were sitting in the same position for the whole 20 minutes of
videogame play. There are a few considerations future studies could utilize to improve mindful
body awareness during videogame play. First, mindfulness interventions could be applied to
videogames that require more physical movement such as the Wii Fit or X-Box Kinect systems,
that work by sensing players’ physical movements. This may give players more opportunities to
notice what is taking place with their physical body while playing. A second change that could
be made is placing more emphasis on the need to scan the body within the mindfulness
instructions. Participants seemed to understand and effectively increase their attentiveness during
the task, thus fulfilling the “present-moment-awareness” aspect of mindfulness.
4.5 Future Directions
The results of the present study raise many important questions that future studies should
investigate. One question to tackle would be how the mindfulness training from the present study
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would have worked on a clinical population. The present study was conducted on an unselected
population of gamers in which clinical symptoms and severity were not assessed. Therefore, the
design of the present study leaves unanswered the question about how well this mindfulness
training would have worked on a clinical population of gamers (e.g., depression or anxiety).
Given the fact that many mindfulness-based interventions are meant to target clinical
symptomology like stress and emotion dysregulation, how such gamers would respond to this
kind of intervention is important to know. To address this, future studies can replicate the design
of the current study but use a chosen set of clinical symptomology as an inclusion criteria for the
study. It is possible that the effects observed in this study may be even larger for a clinical
population because, as the participants were unselected, they may not have felt as if mindfulness
was a useful or needed skill for them to learn. If a gamer came into a study with more motivation
to learn mindfulness resulting from struggles with mental health issues, such applied mindfulness
practice may be more meaningful. Until follow up studies are conducted on a clinical population,
this will constitute a blind spot in our ability to tell how feasible this approach would be for a
population of gamers with mental health issues.
Another question raised by the results of this study is how the application of mindfulness
practice to everyday and enjoyable activities would work as a stand-alone and long-term
intervention. Since this study measured the immediate effects of a mindfulness training
procedure, we are unable to tell if the observed results would make a positive impact over a
longer period of time. Moreover, the short-term nature of this study did not allow for the
assessment of how one’s applied mindfulness training may generalize to other activities. Future
iterations of this study should track participants over a longer period of time, allow for more
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applied mindfulness practice to take place, and compare the results to a control group as well as a
study group who goes through a typical mindfulness training (founded on formal practice).
The generalizability of the mindfulness training used in this study to other intrinsically
motivated activities would be another area to explore in the future. Since this study utilized a
design where gamers were allowed to engage in an activity which they consider enjoyable, it is
difficult to say how these results would generalize to different kinds of intrinsically motivated
activities. However, there are some studies to suggest these results would generalize to other
intrinsically motivating activities. One example has already been mentioned. Specifically,
mindfulness-based interventions have already shown positive effects when applied to athletics
(e.g., Bühlmayer et al., 2017), which is considered an intrinsically motivating activity to many.
Future studies should continue to explore how a range of activities, particularly those that are
intrinsically motivated, serve to enhance or hinder applied mindfulness practice. It is possible
that the findings of this study would extend to other enjoyable and intrinsically motivated
activities like art and music.
A final area that seems important to explore would be to directly compare the impact of
formal mindfulness practice with the impact that applied mindfulness practice has in mindfulness
training. It would be possible to make such a comparison if one were to utilize a similar study
design but with the addition of a formal meditation condition (e.g., deep breathing, body scan,
seated meditations, etc.). This will allow us to better understand similarities and differences in
how participants respond to these two different kinds of mindfulness practice. This may, in turn,
help refine and enhance training methods that prove most effective. Such similarities and
differences are currently unknown.
95
The main goal of the present study was to further investigate the feasibility and potential
benefits of utilizing both everyday activities and intrinsically motivated activities as vehicles for
applied mindfulness practice. This study offers some evidence to help answer these questions in
the affirmative. More research is needed to further understand how applied mindfulness,
particularly geared towards enjoyable activities, may serve to enhance training in mindfulness.
96
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Appendices
Appendix A1 State Mindfulness Scale (SMS)
Appendix A1 State Mindfulness Scale (SMS)
Below is a list of statements. Please use the rating scale to indicate how well each
statement describes your experiences during the study activity you just performed.
Not at all Slightly Somewhat Fairly well Very well
1 2 3 4 5
I was aware of different
emotions that arose in
me
I tried to pay attention
to pleasant and
unpleasant sensations
I found some of my
experiences interesting
I noticed many small
details about my
experience
I felt aware of what was
happening inside of me
I noticed pleasant and
unpleasant emotions
Not at all Slightly Very well
1 2
Somewhat Fairly well
3 4 5
I actiely explored my
experience in the
moment
I clearly physically felt
what was going on in
my body
I changed my body
posture and paid
attention to the physical
process of moing
I felt that I was
experiencing the
present moment fully
I noticed pleasant and
unpleasant thoughts
I noticed emotions
come and go
109
Not at all Slightly Somewhat Fairly well Very well
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
I noticed various
sensations caused by
my surroundings (e.g.,
heat, coolness, the wind
on my face)
I noticed physical
sensations come and go
I had moments when I
felt alert and awake
I felt closely connected
to the present moment
I noticed thoughts come
and go
I felt in contact with my
body
I was aware of what was
going on in my mind
I was interested to see
the pattern of my
thinking
I noticed some pleasant
and unpleasant physical
sensations
110
Appendix A2 Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI)
Appendix A nini iin nen )
For each of the following statements, please indicate how true it is for you, using the following scale:
not at all somewhat true extremely true
12345 6 7
I put a lot of effort into
this
This activity did not hold
my attention at all
After working at this
activity for a while, I felt
pretty competent
123 56 7
12345 6 7
4
I enoyed doing this
activity very much
I think this is an
important activity
I thought this activity
was uite enoyale
I was pretty skilled at
this activity
I tried very hard on this
activity
I elieve this activity
could e of some value
to me
I thought this was a
oring activity
I think I did pretty well at
this activity, compared
to other students
111
not at all extremely true
somewhat true
12345 6 7
I would describe this
activity as very
interesting
It was iortant to e
to do well at this tas
I a satised with y
erorance at this tas
I believe doing this
activity could be
benecial to e
hile I was doing this
activity I was thining
about how uch I
enoyed it
I didnt try very hard to
do well at this activity
his was an activity that
I couldnt do very well
12345 6 7
his activity was un to
do
I would be willing to do
this again because it has
soe value to e
I thin I a retty good
at this activity
I didnt ut uch energy
into this
112
Appendix A3 Flow State Scale (FSS)
Appendix A Flow State Scale (FSS)
Please answer the following questions in relation to your experience [completing the study
activity]. There are no right or wrong answers. Think about how you felt during the task and
answer the questions using the rating scale below. Indicate the number that best matches your
experience from the options to the right of each question.
strongly
disagree disagree
neither agree
nor disagree agree
strongly
agree
1 2 3 4 5
I was challenged, but I
believed my skills
would allow me to
meet the challenge
I made the correct
movements without
thinking about trying to
do so
I knew clearly what I
wanted to do
It was really clear to
me that I was doing
well
My attention was
focused entirely on
what I was doing
I felt in total control of
what I was doing
I was not concerned
with what others may
have been thinking of
me
Time seemed to alter
(either slowed down or
speeded up)
1 2 3 4 5
I really enjoyed the
experience
My abilities matched
the high challenge of
the situation
Things just seemed to
be happening
automatically
I had a strong sense of
what I wanted to do
113
strongly
disagree disagree
neither agree
nor disagree agree
strongly
agree
1 2 3 4 5
I was aware of how
well I was performing
It was no effort to keep
my mind on what was
happening
I felt like I could control
what I was doing
I was not worried
about my performance
during the event
1 2 3 4 5
The way time passed
seemed to be different
from normal
I loved the feeling of
that performance and
wanted to capture it
again
I felt I was competent
enough to meet the
high demands of the
situation
I performed
automatically
I knew what I wanted
to achieve
I had a good idea while
I was performing about
how well I was doing
I had total
concentration
I had a feeling of total
control
1 2 3 4 5
I was not concerned
with how I was
presenting myself
It felt like time stopped
while I was performing
114
strongly
disagree disagree
neither agree
nor disagree agree
strongly
agree
1 2 3 4 5
The experience left me
feeling great
The challenge and my
skills were at an
equally high level
I did things
spontaneously and
automatically without
having to think
My goals were clearly
defined
I could tell by the way I
was performing how
well I was doing
I was completely
focused on the task at
hand
1 2 3 4 5
I felt in total control of
my body
I was not worried
about what others may
have been thinking of
me
At times, it almost
seemed like things
were happening in
slow motion
I found the experience
extremely rewarding
115
Percentage of Time "In the Zone"
My percentage of
time immersed in
the activity was...
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
What percentage of the time would you say you felt completely immersed or "in the zone" during the
activity?
116
Appendix A4 Positive and Negative Affective Schedule – X (PANAS-X)
This scale consists of a number of words and phrases that describe different feelings and emotions.
Read each item and then mark the appropriate answer in the space next to that word. Indicate to what
extent you feel these emotions right now (that is, at the present moment). Use the following
scale to record your answers:
very slightly
or not at all a little moderately quite a bit extremely
1 2 3 4 5
Active
Jittery
Attentive
Enthusiastic
Upset
Interested
Inspired
1 2 3 4 5
At Ease
Proud
Hostile
Afraid
Strong
1 2 3 4 5
Distressed
ert
ited
it
etrti
eed
Appendix A oiie nd eie Aeie Sede - AAS-
117
very slightly
or not at all a little moderately quite a bit extremely
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
Ashamed
Fearless
Determined
Irritable
Scared
Confident
Bold
Nervous
Daring
118
Appendix A5 Satisfaction, Importance/Relevance, Ease-of-Task
ht t ps : / / us c .c a 1.qua l t ri c s .c om / Q / E di t S e c t i on/ Bl oc ks / A j a x/ G e t S urve yP ri nt P re vi e w ? Cont e xt S urve yID =S V _5uQ F h9z i 6w N 6r8V & Cont e xt L i bra ryID =U R_9T rqpkD 5f … 13/ 18
Please indicate the degree to which each word represents how you felt [playing your video game or
folding laundry]. The closer a mark is placed to a word, the stronger you feel the word represents
your feelings. Please make one mark per prompt.
While playing my video game, I fel t:
Happy Unhappy
Pleased Annoyed
Satisfied Unsatisfied
Contented
Hopeful
Relaxed
Melancholic
Despairing
ore
To me, [playing a video game or folding laundry] for this study was...
Easy
Useful to me
Important to me
Diicl
oinless or e
niporan or e
Appendix A Siion poneeene e-o-
119
Appendix A6 Acceptability of Intervention – Only for Intervention Group
Appendix A Acceptability o neenion - Only for Intervention Group
Please indicate the degree to which each word represents how you felt playing your video game.
The closer a mark is placed to a word, the stronger you feel the word represents your feelings.
Please make one mark per prompt.
uestion asked at oth study sessions n todays study session you were asked to perform the
study activity mindfully for or minutes. ow likely is it that you will continue to p lay
videogames or fold laundry mindfully in the future
uestion asked at the end of the second study session uring this study, you were asked to
perform two different activities in a mindful way. hich activity do you feel was more effective
in teaching you mindfulness
mindfully
I will never try to [play or fold] more
mindfully
I will always try to [play or fold] more
Video game play
Folding laundry
Neither helped me learn
Both helped me learn equally
uestion asked at the end of the second study session Which activity would you most likely utilize to
"practice" mindfulness in the future?
Video game play
Folding laundry
Neither
Both
120
Appendix B1 State Mindfulness Scale (SMS) description and items (+) subscales
Appendix B1. State Mindfulness Scale (SMS) description and items (+) subscales
Table 1. Brief descriptions of state mindfulness measure used In study
Description
State Mindfulness Scale
Overview of measure A 5-point self-report Likert-scale for state-based
mindfulness. The scale has been validated to assess
mindfulness over a specific period of time and across
different contexts. A composite score of all items will be
utilized as a primary outcome measure.
Mind subscale A subscale that measures how much one deliberately
attended to the present moment during a task.
Body subscale A subscale that measures one’s awareness of their
physical, bodily sensations.
Table 2. State Mindfulness Scale (SMS) items and subscale each item belongs to
Item Scale
Mind Body
I was aware of the different emotions that arose in me X
I tried to pay attention to pleasant and unpleasant sensations X
I found some of my experiences interesting X
I noticed many small details about my experience X
I felt aware of what was happening inside of me X
I noticed pleasant and unpleasant emotions X
I actively explored my experience in the moment X
I felt that I was experiencing the present moment fully X
I noticed pleasant and unpleasant thoughts X
I noticed emotions come and go X
I had moments when I felt alert and awake X
I felt closely connected to the present moment X
I noticed thoughts come and go X
I was aware of what was going on in my mind X
I was interested to see the pattern of my thinking X
I clearly physically felt what was going on in my body X
I changed my body posture and paid attention to the physical
process of moving
X
I noticed various sensations caused by my surroundings (e.g., heat,
coolness, the wind on my face)
X
I noticed physical sensations come and go X
I felt in contact with my body X
I noticed some pleasant and unpleasant physical sensations X
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Appendix B2 Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) description and items (+) Subscales
Appendix B2. Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) description and items (+) subscales
Table 7. Brief description of Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI)
Description
Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI)
Overview of measure A 7-point self-report Likert-scale for state-based
mindfulness. The scale has been validated to assess
intrinsic motivation for targeted activities and across
different contexts. A composite (total) score of all items
will be utilized in addition to the four subscales the IMI
provides.
Effort subscale An IMI subscale that measures how much effort one
exerted during a target activity
Interest / Enjoyment subscale An IMI subscale that measures one’s level of enjoyment
and interest during a target activity
Competence subscale An IMI subscale that measures how one’s skills met the
level of difficulty or challenge a target activity presented
Value subscale Measures how useful or important a participant perceives
an activity to be
Table 8. Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) items and subscales.
Item Subscale
After working at this activity for a while, I felt pretty competent Competence
I was pretty skilled at this activity Competence
I think I did pretty well at this activity, compared to other students Competence
I am satisfied with my performance at this task Competence
This was an activity that I couldn’t do very well (R) Competence
I think I am pretty good at this activity Competence
I put a lot of effort into this Effort
I tried very hard on this activity Effort
It was important to me to do well at this task Effort
I didn’t try very hard to do well at this activity (R) Effort
I didn't put much energy into this (R) Effort
This activity did not hold my attention at all (R) Interest/Enjoyment
I enjoyed doing this activity very much Interest/Enjoyment
I thought this activity was quite enjoyable Interest/Enjoyment
I thought this was a boring activity (R) Interest/Enjoyment
I would describe this activity as very interesting Interest/Enjoyment
While I was doing this activity, I was thinking about how much I enjoyed
it
Interest/Enjoyment
This activity was fun to do Interest/Enjoyment
I think this is an important activity Value
I believe this activity could be of some value to me Value
I believe doing this activity could be beneficial to me Value
I would be willing to do this again because it has some value Value
122
Appendix B3 Flow State Scale (FSS) description and items (+) subscales
Appendix B3. Flow State Scale (FSS) description and items (+) subscales
Table 13. Brief descriptions of immersion scales and subscales
Description
Flow State Scale (FSS)
Overview of measure A 5-point self-report Likert-scale to measure flow and
immersion during a target activity. This measure was
validated for athletes during an athletic performance and
was adapted to reflect a laundry folding and video game
activity for the present study.
Action-Awareness An FSS subscale that measures how “automatically” a
participant’s actions were for them during a target activity
Autotelic An FSS subscale that measures how enjoyable or
intrinsically motivating an activity was for a participant.
Challenge An FSS subscale that measures how one felt their skills
met a challenge being presented to them.
Clear Goals An FSS subscale that measures how clear one felt the goals
of a given activity or exercise were to them
Concentration An FSS subscale that measures the level of focus or
concentration one had during a task.
Loss of Consciousness An FSS subscale that measures how “instinctive” an
activity was and the extent to which they lost their sense of
self-consciousness during a task.
Sense of Control An FSS subscale related to internal and external perceived
locus of control, this subscale measured how “in control”
one felt over a task they were performing. A greater sense
of control is thought to produce more intense flow states.
Transformation of Time An FSS subscale that measures how one’s sense of time
was altered during an activity.
Unambiguous Feedback An FSS subscale that measures how immediate and clear
one felt feedback was during a task. Feedback refers to
knowing whether one is succeeding or failing.
Percentage of Time “In the
Zone”
A visual analogue scale (VAS) with a range of 1-100 that
presented that prompt, “What percentage of the time would
you say you felt completely immersed or ‘in the zone’
during the [study] activity?” This question was meant to
estimate how much time participants perceived themselves
to be immersed in the study activity.
123
Table 14. Flow State Scale (FSS) individual items and subscales.
Item
Subscale
I made the correct movements without thinking about trying to do
so
Action-Awareness
Things just seemed to be happening automatically
Action-Awareness
I performed automatically
Action-Awareness
I did things spontaneously and automatically without having to
think
Action-Awareness
I really enjoyed the experience
Autotelic
I loved the feeling of that performance and wanted to capture it
again
Autotelic
The experience left me feeling great
Autotelic
I found the experience extremely rewarding
Autotelic
I was challenged, but I believed my skills would allow me to meet
the challenge
Challenge
I felt I was competent enough to meet the high demands of the
situation
Challenge
The challenge and my skills were at an equally high level
Challenge
My abilities matched the high challenge of the situation
Challenge
I knew clearly what I wanted to do
Clear Goals
I had a strong sense of what I wanted to do
Clear Goals
I knew what I wanted to achieve
Clear Goals
My goals were clearly defined
Clear Goals
It was no effort to keep my mind on what was happening
Concentration
My attention was focused entirely on what I was doing
Concentration
I had total concentration
Concentration
I was completely focused on the task at hand
Concentration
I was not concerned with what others may have been thinking of
me
Loss of Consciousness
I was not concerned with how I was presenting myself
Loss of Consciousness
I was not worried about what others may have been thinking of me
Loss of Consciousness
I was not worried about my performance during the event
Loss of Consciousness
I felt in total control of what I was doing
Sense of Control
I felt like I could control what I was doing
Sense of Control
I felt in total control of my body
Sense of Control
I had a feeling of total control
Sense of Control
Time seemed to alter (either slowed down or speeded up)
Transformation of Time
The way time passed seemed to be different from normal
Transformation of Time
At times, it almost seemed like things were happening in slow
motion
Transformation of Time
It felt like time stopped while I was performing
Transformation of Time
I could tell by the way I was performing how well I was doing
Unambiguous Feedback
124
I was aware of how well I was performing
Unambiguous Feedback
It was really clear to me that I was doing well
Unambiguous Feedback
I had a good idea while I was performing about how well I was
doing
Unambiguous Feedback
125
Appendix B4 Positive and Negative Affective Schedule – X (PANAS-X) description and
items (+) subscales
Appendix B4. Positive and Negative Affective Schedule (PANAS-X) description and items
(+) subscales
Table 18. Brief descriptions of the PANAS-X and its subscales
Description
Positive and Negative Affect
Schedule (PANAS-X)
Positive domain Asks participants to rate the extent to which they are
experiencing the following emotion-words, in the present
moment: active, alert, attentive, determined, enthusiastic,
excited, inspired, interested, proud, strong.
Negative domain Asks participants to rate the extent to which they are
experiencing the following emotion words, in the present
moment: afraid, scared, nervous, jittery, irritable, hostile,
guilty, ashamed, upset, distressed.
Attentive domain Asks participants to rate the extent to which they are
experiencing the following emotion words, in the present
moment: alert, attentive, concentrating, determined.
Serene domain Asks participants to rate the extent to which they are
experiencing the following emotion words, in the present
moment: calm, relaxed, at ease.
Self-Assurance domain Asks participants to rate the extent to which they are
experiencing the following emotion words, in the present
moment: proud, strong, confident, bold, daring, fearless.
Table 19. PANAS-X domains and items that comprise each domain
PANAS-X Domains and Items
Domain Items
Positive Domain active, alert, attentive, determined, enthusiastic, excited,
inspired, interested, proud, strong
Negative Domain afraid, scared, nervous, jittery, irritable, hostile, guilty,
ashamed, upset, distressed
Attentive Domain alert, attentive, concentrating, determined
Serene Domain calm, relaxed, at ease
Self-Assurance Domain proud, strong, confident, bold, daring, fearless
126
Appendix B5 Satisfaction, Importance/Relevance, Ease-of-Task description and items (+)
subscales
Appendix B5. Satisfaction, Importance/Relevance, Ease of Task, and Acceptability items
(+) subscales
Table 24. Brief description of satisfaction, personal importance/relevance, ease of task, and
acceptability measures.
Description
Other Constructs Assessed
“Satisfaction with Task” A study-specific item that was presented in a Semantic
Differentiation Scale with the following adjective pairings:
“happy/unhappy,” “pleased/annoyed,”
“satisfied/unsatisfied,” and “content/melancholic.”
“Personal Importance /
Relevance of Task”
A study-specific item that was presented in a Semantic
Differentiation Scale with the following adjective pairings:
“important/unimportant,” “useful/pointless,” and
“hopeful/despairing.”
“Ease of Task” A study-specific item that was presented in a Semantic
Differentiation Scale with the following adjective pairings:
“easy” and “difficult”
“Future Likelihood to
Practice”
A study-specific item that was presented in a Semantic
Differentiation Scale with anchors of “I will always try to
complete [specified activity] in a more mindful way,” and
“I will never try to complete [specified activity] in a more
mindful way.”
More Effective Activity for
“Mindfulness” Training
At the end of the second study session participants in the
mindfulness group were asked the following question,
“during this study, you were asked to perform two different
activities in a ‘mindful’ way. Which
activity do you feel was more effective in teaching you
mindfulness?” Options included, “video game play,”
“folding laundry,” “neither helped me learn,” and “both
helped me learn equally.”
Activity Preferred for
“Mindfulness” Practice
At the end of the second study session participants in the
mindfulness group were asked the following question,
“which activity would you most likely utilize to ‘practice’
mindfulness in the future?”
127
Appendix C1 Mindfulness Induction for Videogame Play Activity
Appendix C1. Mindfulness Induction for Videogame Play Activity: Part 1/3
Today you will be asked to play a video game utilizing a therapeutic
strategy known as Mindfulness. Mindfulness entails both the ability to completely
immerse one’s self in the present moment and the ability to detect and welcome
incoming thoughts and feelings in real time. Today you will be asked to play the
video game you have selected in a more mindful way. Video game play was
selected as a way to practice mindfulness because many features common to
video game play may provide an ideal opportunity to practice both facets of
mindfulness at the same time.
One common aspect of all video games is that they are interactive in
nature, with the game responding to a player’s commands. Such interactivity
between a game and its players presents each user an ideal platform to practice the
first aspect of mindfulness, which is attention, engagement and immersion in the
present moment. However, just because a game is interactive does not necessarily
mean it will engage or immerse a player. In order for full engagement and
immersion to take place, a player must have the ability to notice and curtail
distracting thoughts. As you play your game today, try to be mindful about how
much attention and energy you are placing on the game itself. Try to notice any
thoughts or feelings that may distract you from giving the game your complete
attention. If you notice you’re not fully engaged in the game, just recognize this
has taken place and try to re-focus.
An image will now be presented that demonstrates this first "mindfulness"
principle in the context of video game play. PRESS THE "NEXT" BUTTON.
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Appendix C1. Mindfulness Induction for Videogame Play Activity: Part 2/3
This image demonstrates the difference between having one’s mind be full
of distracting thoughts and having one’s mind be immersed in the present
moment. As you can see, the person in the red shirt is playing a video game but
their mind is full of distracting thoughts, while the person in the green shirt is
playing a video game and only placing their thoughts on the game itself. As you
play your game today, try to be mindful about how much attention and energy
you are placing on the game. This will help you master the first aspect of
mindfulness; attention, engagement and immersion in the present moment.
PRESS THE "NEXT" BUTTON.
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Appendix C1. Mindfulness Induction for Videogame Play Activity: Part 3/3
In addition to paying attention to ourselves and our actions in the present
moment, video game play allows users to practice a second important aspect of
mindfulness, which is acceptance. Acceptance within mindfulness entails feeling
okay about the fact that we might not always be happy and welcoming all
thoughts and feelings. In other words, acceptance means there is no “right” or
“wrong” way to feel. Since video game play can evoke a wide range of positive
and negative emotions, it can provide a platform through which gamers can
practice their ability to notice and accept their thoughts and feelings.
One way to think about acceptance is to imagine a mountain. No matter
what is going on in the world around it, a mountain remains unchanged. With a
solid foundation, a mountain can simply observe the changing seasons, knowing
that it will always be a mountain. As you play your game today, try to play like
you are a mountain. You may feel frustrated, angry and hopeless when losing
repeatedly. You may feel happy, confident, and proud if you beat a final boss or
successfully complete a difficult mission. Some players might experience
boredom while playing an easy game or may feel annoyed at a non-playing
character. Irritation or feeling upset at in-game bugs or toxic online players may
also take place. Just like a mountain, you can simply try to allow these kinds of
thoughts and feelings to come and go, knowing that at the end of the day you will
remain the same person.
As you play your game today try and maintain an awareness about what
emotions you experience as you play. If you notice yourself having a negative
emotion, simply be aware that you’re having it and try to re-focus your attention
on the game. Your goal should be to not get too lost or “wrapped up” in any
emotion. Simply try to notice and accept that you are having an emotional
reaction to the game. Try to remember the two main facets of mindfulness: (a)
paying attention to the present moment and (b) acceptance of one’s thoughts and
feelings. PRESS THE "NEXT" BUTTON.
130
Appendix C2 Mindfulness Induction for Laundry Folding Activity
Appendix C2. Mindfulness Induction for Laundry Folding Activity: Part 1/3
Today you will be asked to fold an assortment of laundry utilizing a
therapeutic strategy known as Mindfulness. Mindfulness entails the ability to pay
attention to and completely immerse one’s self in the present moment and the
ability to detect, accept, and welcome incoming thoughts and feelings. Today you
will learn how to fold laundry in this “mindful” way.
Folding laundry was selected as a way to practice mindfulness because it
is an activity that presents many opportunities to practice both facets of
mindfulness at the same time. Since folding laundry is not an activity that
typically requires significant mental or physical effort, many people tend to
perform this task on “autopilot.” When performing an activity on autopilot it can
allow one’s mind to wander away from the present moment. Consequently,
folding laundry may be an ideal activity in which to practice the first aspect of
mindfulness, which relates to placing one’s full attention on the task-at-hand and
trying to immerse one’s self in the present moment. Folding laundry provides one
with many opportunities to notice their mind wander and then re-focus their
attention to the present moment activity. While you fold your laundry for 10
minutes during today’s study activity try to maintain your focus on the task-at-
hand. If you notice your mind wander, remember that it is okay when this happens
and simply try to re-focus your attention to the laundry you are presently folding.
An image that helps demonstrate how to fold laundry in a more "mindful"
way will now be presented to you. PLEASE CLICK THE “NEXT” BUTTON.
131
Appendix C2. Mindfulness Induction for Laundry Folding Activity: Part 2/3
This image demonstrates the difference between having one’s mind be full
of distracting thoughts and having one’s mind be immersed in the present
moment. As you can see, the person in the yellow shirt is folding laundry but their
mind is full of distracting thoughts, while the person in the purple shirt is folding
laundry and only placing their thoughts on the laundry itself. As you fold laundry
today, try to be mindful about how much attention and energy you are placing on
folding laundry. PLEASE CLICK THE "NEXT" BUTTON.
132
Appendix C2. Mindfulness Induction for Laundry Folding Activity: Part 3/3
In addition to paying attention to ourselves and our actions in the present
moment, folding laundry allows one to practice a second important aspect of
mindfulness, which is acceptance. Acceptance within mindfulness entails feeling
okay about the fact that we might not always feel happy. Acceptance also entails
the ability to welcome all of our thoughts and emotional experiences. In other
words, acceptance means there is no “right” or “wrong” way to think and feel.
The fact that folding laundry is a relatively “easy” task that can allow one’s mind
to wander it presents an ideal opportunity to practice acceptance. For instance,
how often when doing a chore like washing dishes or folding laundry has your
mind wandered to a stressful task or event that will take place in the future (like a
difficult exam or project deadline)? A wandering mind can also recall past
experiences that were negative or stressful such as re-living an upsetting
interaction with a friend or remembering an embarrassing moment at work. If you
notice this happen to you while you fold laundry today, simply try and accept
such thoughts as okay and re-direct your attention to the task of folding laundry.
One way to think about acceptance is to imagine a mountain. No matter
what is going on in the world around it, a mountain remains unchanged. With a
solid foundation, a mountain can simply observe the changing seasons, knowing
that it will always be a mountain. As you fold laundry today, try to be like a
mountain. If your mind wanders and you are thinking about something stressful in
the future, try to accept these worries and refrain from beating yourself up or
feeling guilt and shame about those worries. If your mind wanders to a painful
memory from the past, remember this is okay too. The goal is to notice and accept
such thoughts and feelings. If you fold your laundry with this attitude, you will
practice the aspect of mindfulness known as acceptance. PLEASE CLICK THE
"NEXT" BUTTON.
“Here is a quick review of how you will try to fold your laundry today:
(1) Commit yourself to thinking only about the task-at-hand
(2) Make it a goal to concentrate or focus on the task throughout the time allowed
(3) Try to notice any time your mind has wandered
(4) If you notice your mind has wandered or you are not fully engaged, simply
notice this, nonjudgmentally, and re-focus your attention to the task once again
(5) If your mind continues to wander in spite of your best efforts, take a moment
and use your five senses to pay attention to the physical details-of-the-moment.
a. What sounds do you hear?
b. Can you use your hands to feel any textures?
c. Do you smell anything?
d. What colors can you see?
e. Are there any flavors present that you can almost taste?
Repeat #’s 1-5 as many times as necessary until the time period has ended.
133
Appendix C3 Control Condition Instructions for Videogame Play Activity
Appendix C3. Control Condition Instructions for Videogame Play Activity: Part 1/2
You are about to play a video game you have selected for a period of 20 minutes.
Since this study is interested in better understanding how gamers play their games, we
will ask that you play your video game today like you usually do. This means you may
do things such as listen to music, check your phone, or take any breaks you require
during the 15-minute free play period. Consequently, there is no “right way” or “wrong
way” to play your video game today. You should play as you normally do. Since your
inclusion in this study means you have indicated you find video game play to be an
enjoyable activity, you will now be provided with some information about video games
and video game play that you may not already know.
Video games have a rich history and long tradition. One of the first ways in which
video game play became popular was the invention of arcade machines. Some of the
most popular arcade games include Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Street Fighter. Arcade
machines can still be found in many restaurants and entertainment-based establishments,
and the aforementioned games are still enjoyed by many players. However, video game
play has now expanded far beyond the arcade room. With the invention of consoles like
Atarii and Nintendo in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, people had the option to play
video games from home.
In the US alone, 63% of households have at least one person who plays video
games on a regular basis. That means there are millions of people in the US who
regularly play video games. Video games are now played on many different platforms
including cell phones, desktop or laptop computers, and individual consoles like
Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and Playstation. In addition to a multitude of platforms, people
have many different genres of video games to choose from when they play. For example,
action games like Call of Duty or Star Wars Battlefront are typically fast paced and
require a high level of hand-eye coordination. Adventure games, such as Zelda or Final
Fantasy, are typically slower in pace, allow for more player exploration, and follow a
main character as a story unfolds. Casual games, like Candy Crush, are typically puzzle
based and meant to be easy to play. Exergames like many of the titles found on the Wii
Fit console, have motion sensors that track and respond to a player’s physical
movements; while mobile games like Pokémon Go use a player’s geolocation to advance
the game.
In addition to many platforms and genres, video games can also boast about the
diversity of the players themselves. A “gamer” is considered someone who spends a
minimum of 3 hours a week playing video games. There are large numbers of gamers in
almost all age groups, and, gamers are almost equally likely to be male or female. Video
game play is an activity that is practiced worldwide, and some video games provide
players with opportunities to interact with or compete against other players online.
Augmented and virtual-reality-based games represent the next frontier in video games.
One clear example of the potential popularity these games has already been mentioned.
Pokémon Go is a mobile
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Appendix C3. Control Condition Instructions for Videogame Play Activity: Part 2/2
tablet or smart-phone-based game that utilized augmented reality to embed that game’s
characters in real-world locations, and was one of the most downloaded and played games of
all time.
As a reminder, you are about to play a video game you have selected for a 15-minute
period. During this time, feel free to play the game as you usually do at home. Think of this
as a free play period. You are allowed to take breaks, check your phone, listen to music, or
do whatever it is you do when you normally play. Remember, this is the “habits of gamers”
study, and the goal is to simply learn more about how you play. There is no right or wrong
way to play your game today. The point of today is to simply play your game.
135
Appendix C4 Control Condition Instructions f or Laundry Folding Activity
Appendix C4. Control Condition Instructions for Laundry Folding Activity: Part 1/3
You are about to fold laundry for a period of 10 minutes. Since this study is
interested in the habits of gamers, knowing how you perform a routine activity like folding
laundry is of interest to us. Therefore, we ask that you fold a pile of laundry like you
usually do. This means that as you are folding your laundry you may also do things like
listen to music, check your phone and text messages, or take any breaks that you might
require during the 10-minute period.
Consequently, there is no “right way” or “wrong way” to fold your laundry today.
If you happen to finish folding your pile of laundry before the 10 minutes has ended you
will be asked to take half the pile and re-fold it.
Though you may fold laundry any way you choose, the following suggestions for
how to fold certain items of clothing will be provided. These instructions will remain
available to you during the activity period so you may refer back to them as needed (if you
choose to use them). CLICK THE "NEXT" BUTTON.
136
Appendix C4. Control Condition Instructions for Laundry Folding Activity: Part 2/3
Please take a look at the following figure on how to fold a blouse or t-shirt. As you
can see, there are five steps involved in this process: Lay shirt on a flat surface, front side
down. Fold left arm towards the center, then fold the right arm towards the center. Fold
up the bottom half of the shirt. Flip over. Now we will see how to fold a pair of slacks.
PLEASE CLICK THE "NEXT" BUTTON.
Now you can see a figure that describes how to fold a pair of pants or slacks.
Much like folding a t-shirt, there are five steps to this process: Fold pants in half. Fold up
the bottom half of the pants. Fold up the bottom half of the pants once more. Flip pants
over and you’re done. Both of these figures will be shared with you and can be displayed
during the study. Feel free to reference them as often as needed if you want to follow
these steps in folding your laundry. PLEASE CLICK THE "NEXT" BUTTON.
137
Appendix C4. Control Condition Instructions for Laundry Folding Activity: Part 3/3
We are now about to begin the study activity. Please keep in mind that the steps
provided for folding laundry are only suggestions. You are welcome to fold the laundry as
you normally would. Once again, it is okay to listen to music, check your phone, and take
any breaks you may need. You will be notified when the 10 minute period has ended. As a
reminder, if you happen to finish folding your pile of laundry before the 10 minutes has
ended you will be asked to take half the pile and re-fold it. The point is to spend 10 minutes
folding laundry. YOU MAY NOW CLICK THE "NEXT" BUTTON.
138
Appendix D1 Summary of the Videogames and Videogame Platforms That Were Used by
Each Participant
Running Head: MINDFULNESS AND VIDEOGAME PLAY
Appendix D1. Summary of the videogames and videogame platforms that were used by
each participant.
Table D1. Video Game Platforms.
Type of Platform Mindfulness
Group
Control Group Total
123
Console
a
21 20 41
Touch-Screen/Tablet 1 1 2
Personal Computer
b
31 34 65
Cell Phone 10 5 15
Note.
a
Console types that were played in the study include Xbox 360, Xbox One, Playstation 3,
Playstation 4, Nintendo Gamecube, and Nintendo Switch.
b
Personal Computer included both desktop and laptop computers.
Table D2. Video games played in study
Game Title Frequency Played Percentage
1010 1 0.81
Animal Crossing 11 8.94
Assassins Creed 1 0.81
Bang Dream Girls Band Party 2 1.63
Batman: Arkham Knight 2 1.63
Bloodborne 1 0.81
Bloons TD5 1 0.81
Borderlands 1 0.81
Call of Duty 2 1.63
Candy Crush 1 0.81
Celeste 1 0.81
Counter Strike: Global Offensive 1 0.81
Dead Cells 1 0.81
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze 1 0.81
FIFA21 2 1.63
Factorio 1 0.81
Fall Guys 1 0.81
Faster than Light 2 1.63
Forza 1 0.81
Fruit Ninja 1 0.81
Genshin Impact 7 5.69
Ghosts of Tsushima 1 0.81
God of War 1 0.81
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas 1 0.81
139
Running Head: MINDFULNESS AND VIDEOGAME PLAY
Hades 1 0.81
Hallow Knight 3 2.43
Horizon Zero Dawn 1 0.81
Hungry Shark 1 0.81
Juicy Stack 1 0.81
Kovaak 2.0 1 0.81
Krunker.io 1 0.81
Last of Us 1 0.81
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 6 4.88
Madden20 1 0.81
Madden21 1 0.81
Mario Kart 2 1.63
Marvel Avengers 1 0.81
Minecraft 11 8.94
Minecraft: Skywars 1 0.81
Monster Train 1 0.81
Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord 1 0.81
NBA 2K20 1 0.81
No Mans Sky 1 0.81
Ori 1 0.81
Osu 1 0.81
Piano Tiles 1 0.81
Pokeman Emerald Version 1 0.81
Pokeman Shield 1 0.81
Retro Bowl 1 0.81
Rimworld 1 0.81
Risk of Rain II 1 0.81
Rocket League (Training Mode) 1 0.81
Skyrim 1 0.81
Spelunky 1 0.81
Star Wars: Squadrons 1 0.81
Starcraft 2 1.63
Stardew Valley 6 4.88
Stepmania 1 0.81
Subway Surfer 1 0.81
Super Smash Bros Melee 2 1.63
Survive the Killer 1 0.81
Taiko no Tatsujin 1 0.81
Temple Run 2 1.63
Terraria 1 0.81
Tetris99 1 0.81
The Body of Isaac 1 0.81
The Room 1 0.81
Titanfall 2 1 0.81
Total War Saga: Troy 1 0.81
Until Dawn 1 0.81
Running Head: MINDFULNESS AND VIDEOGAME PLAY
Untitled Goose Game 2 1.63
Uta No Prince 1 0.81
Witcher 3 1 0.81
Wolfenstein 1 0.81
Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Links 1 0.81
Total 123 100%
140
Appendix E1 All Study Outcome Means
Running Head: MINDFULNESS AND VIDEOGAME PLAY
Appendix E1. All Study Outcome Means
Table E1. Sample size, mean, standard deviation, standard error, and 95% confidence intervals
for primary and secondary outcome measures
Video Game Play
Mindfulness Group Control Group
Outcome N Mean SD SE 95% CI N Mean SD SE 95% CI
State Mindfulness Scale (SMS)
a
Mind 59 3.82 ± .71 .09 [3.64, 4.01] 58 3.24 .71 .10 [3.05, 3.42]
Body 59 2.99 ± .95 .12 [2.74, 3.23] 58 2.60 .79 .10 [2.39, 2.81]
Composite 59 3.59 ± .71 .09 [3.40, 3.77] 58 3.06 .68 .01 [2.88, 3.23]
Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI)
b
Composite 63 5.44 ± .83 .11 [5.23, 5.65] 60 5.11 ± .75 .10 [4.92, 5.30]
Effort 63 5.32 ± 1.10 .14 [5.05, 5.60] 60 4.32 ± 1.33 .17 [3.98, 4.66]
Interest 63 5.84 ± .93 .12 [5.61, 6.07] 60 5.81 ± .82 .11 [5.60, 6.03]
Competence 63 5.23 ± 1.03 .13 [4.97, 5.49] 60 5.23 ± .98 .13 [4.98, 5.49]
Value 63 5.22 ± 1.30 .16 [4.89, 5.54] 60 4.69 ± 1.15 .15 [4.39, 4.98]
Flow State Scale (FSS)
c
Act./Aware. 63 3.86 ± .85 .11 [3.65, 4.07] 60 3.95 ± .95 .12 [3.71, 4.20]
Autotelic 63 3.89 ± .75 .09 [3.69, 4.07] 60 3.86 ± .76 .10 [3.66, 4.05]
Challenge 63 3.90 ± .77 .10 [3.71, 4.09] 60 3.79 ±.83 .11 [3.58, 4.00]
Clear Goals 63 4.21 ± .87 .11 [3.99, 4.43] 60 4.29 ± .67 .09 [4.11, 4.46]
Concentr.
d
63 3.88 ± .83 .10 [3.67, 4.09] 60 4.06 ± .75 .10 [3.86, 4.25]
Loss Consc.
e
63 3.70 ± 1.06 .13 [3.43, 3.97] 60 4.01 ± .77 .10 [3.81, 4.21]
Sense Cont.
f
63 4.13 ± .71 .09 [3.95, 4.31] 60 4.21 ± .67 .09 [4.04, 4.38]
Trans. Time
g
63 3.62 ± .88 .11 [3.39, 3.84] 60 3.32 ± .96 .12 [3.08, 3.57]
Feedback 63 3.96 ± .85 .11 [3.75, 4.17] 60 4.00 ± .57 .07 [3.85, 4.14]
Composite 63 3.90 ± .54 .07 [3.77, 4.04] 60 3.94 ± .45 .06 [3.82, 4.06]
Percentage of Time “in the Zone”
h
Score 63 84.84 ±
14.37
1.8
1
[81.22,
88.46]
60 82.38 ±
19.89
2.5
7
[77.24,
87.52]
Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-X (PANAS-X)
i, j
Positive 63 .34 ± .69 .09 [.17, .51] 60 .28 ± .59 .08 [.13, .43]
Negative 63 .03 ± .39 .05 [-.07, .13] 60 .03 ± .38 .05 [-.07, .13]
Attentive 63 .52 ± .83 .11 [.31, .73] 60 .51 ± .81 .10 [.30, .72]
Serene 63 -.02 ± .93 .12 [-.25, .22] 60 -.21 ± .80 .10 [-.41, 0.0]
Self-Assure 63 .17 ± .66 .08 [.01, .34] 60 .21 ± .60 .08 [.05, .36]
Semantic Differential Scales
k
Satisfaction 63 1.79 ± 1.00 .13 [1.55, 2.05] 60 1.88 ± .99 .13 [1.62, 2.14]
Ease of Task 63 1.98 ± 1.48 .19 [1.61, 2.36] 60 2.53 ± .87 .11 [2.31, 2.76]
Importance 63 1.48 ± .92 .12 [1.24, 1.71] 60 1.08 ± 1.04 .14 [.81, 1.35]
Future Likelihood to Practice
l
Always vs
Never
63 1.63 ± 1.24 .16 [1.32, 1.95] Not Asked
141
Running Head: MINDFULNESS AND VIDEOGAME PLAY
Laundry Folding
Mindfulness Group Control Group
Outcome N Mean SD SE 95% CI N Mean SD SE 95% CI
State Mindfulness Scale (SMS)
a
Mind 59 3.70 ± .58 .76 [3.55, 3.85] 58 2.80 ± .88 .12 [2.57, 3.03]
Body 59 3.42 ± .83 .11 [3.20, 3.64] 58 2.74 ± .91 .12 [2.50, 2.98]
Composite 59 3.62 ± .59 .07 [3.47, 3.77] 58 2.78 ± .84 .11 [2.56, 3.00]
Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI)
b
Composite 63 4.47 ± .81 .10 [4.27, 4.68] 60 4.18 ± .94 .12 [2.88, 3.23]
Effort 63 4.54 ± 1.36 .17 [4.20, 4.89] 60 3.41 ± 1.32 .17 [3.07, 3.75]
Interest 63 3.75 ± 1.25 .16 [3.44, 4.07] 60 3.53 ± 1.35 .17 [3.18, 3.88]
Competence 63 4.96 ± .97 .12 [4.71, 5.20] 60 5.02 ± .91 .12 [4.79, 5.25]
Value 63 4.92 ± 1.25 .16 [4.60, 5.23] 60 5.03 ± 1.46 .19 [4.66, 5.41]
Flow State Scale (FSS)
c
Act./Aware. 63 3.62 ± .82 .10 [3.41, 3.83] 60 4.19 ± .68 .09 [4.02, 4.37]
Autotelic 63 2.92 ± .78 .10 [2.72, 3.11] 60 2.78 ± .93 .12 [2.53, 3.01]
Challenge 63 3.35 ± .66 .08 [3.18, 3.52] 60 2.98 ± .85 .11 [2.76, 3.19]
Clear Goals 63 4.26 ± .62 .08 [4.10, 4.41] 60 4.27 ± .63 .08 [4.11, 4.43]
Concentr.
d
63 3.28 ± .92 .12 [3.05, 3.51] 60 3.23 ± 1.00 .13 [2.98, 3.49]
Loss Consc.
e
63 3.51 ± .98 .12 [3.26, 3.76] 60 3.85 ± .96 .12 [3.60, 4.10]
Sense Cont.
f
63 3.89 ± .86 .11 [3.68, 4.11] 60 4.23 ± .65 .08 [4.06, 4.40]
Trans. Time
g
63 3.34 ± .99 .12 [3.09, 3.59] 60 2.97 ± 1.07 .14 [2.70, 3.25]
Feedback 63 3.73 ± .74 .09 [3.54, 3.91] 60 3.75 ± .72 .09 [3.56, 3.93]
Composite 63 3.54 ± .50 .06 [3.42, 3.67] 60 3.58 ± .47 .06 [3.46, 3.70]
Percentage of Time “in the Zone”
h
Score 63 71.65 ±
20.23
2.5
5
[66.56,
76.75]
60 67.02 ±
23.67
3.1
1
[60.79,
73.24]
Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-X (PANAS-X)
i, j
Positive 63 -.15 ± .66 .08 [-.32, .01] 60 -.15 ± .50 .07 [-.28, -.02]
Negative 63 -.17 ± .43 .05 [-.28, -.06] 60 -.13 ± .30 .04 [-.20, -.05]
Attentive 63 .04 ± .66 .08 [-.13, .20] 60 -.13 ± .75 .10 [-.33, .06]
Serene 63 -.04 ± .91 .11 [-.27, .19] 60 .12 ± .94 .12 [-.12, .37]
Self-Assure 63 -.11 ± .61 .08 [-.26, .05] 60 -.10 ± .42 .05 [-.21, 0.0]
Semantic Differential Scales
k
Satisfaction 63 1.00 ± 1.11 .14 [.72, 1.28] 60 1.10 ± 1.03 .13 [.84, 1.37]
Ease of Task 63 2.27 ± 1.04 .13 [2.01, 2.53] 60 2.47 ± .98 .13 [2.21, 2.72]
Importance 63 1.03 ± .95 .12 [.79, 1.27] 60 .80 ± 1.17 .15 [.49, 1.10]
Future Likelihood to Practice
l
Always vs
Never
63 .97 ± 1.88 .24 [.49, 1.44] Not Asked
Note.
a
State Mindfulness Scale (SMS) has a 5-point, self-report, Likert scale format.
b
Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) has a 7-point, self-report, Likert scale format.
c
Flow State Scale (FSS) has a 5-point, self-report, Likert scale format.
d
Label of “Concentr.” is abbreviation used for the “Concentration” subscale of the FSS.
142
Running Head: MINDFULNESS AND VIDEOGAME PLAY
e
Label of “Loss Consc.” is abbreviation used for the “Loss of Consciousness” subscale of the
FSS.
f
Label of “Sense Cont.” is abbreviation used for the “Sense of Control” subscale of the FSS.
g
Label of “Trans Time.” is abbreviation used for the “Transformation of Time” subscale of the
FSS.
h
“Percentage of Time ‘In the Zone’” was a visual analogue scale with a range of 0-100
i
Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-X (PANAS-X) has a 5-point, self-report, Likert scale
format.
j
Scores presented for the PANAS-X are pre- to post-task-change scores. A negative score
reflects a reduction in the reported emotion from pre- to post-task.
k
Semantic Differential Scales were forced-choice with seven response options between each of
the two word anchors. A score of “3” was used for the most positive responses, a score of “-3”
was used for the most negative response, and a neutral mark in the middle of the two word
anchors was scored “0.” A negative score reflects a more negative answer.
l
“Future Likelihood to Practice” was presented as a semantic differential scale and was only
presented to participants in the mindfulness condition. A score of “3” was used for the most
positive responses, a score of “-3” was used for the most negative response, and a neutral mark
in the middle of the two word anchors was scored “0.” A negative score reflects a more
negative answer.
143
Appendix E2 ANOVA for Order Effects: Mindful Videogame Activity
Running Head: MINDFULNESS AND VIDEOGAME PLAY
Appendix E2. ANOVA for order effects; mindful videogame play activity
Table E2. ANOVA results for order effects with means and standard deviations; mindful
videogame play activity
Time 1
a, b
Time 2
c, d
x ̄ SD x ̄ SD F
e
Cohens
d
State Mindfulness Scale
Mind 3.92 .56 3.72 .84 1.07 .27
Body 2.99 .87 2.99 1.03 0 0
Composite 3.65 .58 3.52 .84 .54 .19
Intrinsic Motivation Inventory
Composite 5.42 .67 5.46 .99 .04 -.05
Effort 5.29 1.01 5.35 1.21 .05 -.06
Interest / Enjoyment 5.81 .20 5.87 1.13 .07 -.07
Competence 5.17 .98 5.30 1.09 .27 -.13
Value 5.30 1.12 5.13 1.47 .24 .12
Flow State Scale
Autotelic 3.84 .68 3.91 .82 .16 -.10
Challenge 3.79 .80 4.02 .72 1.39 -.30
Concentration 3.75 .75 4.01 .89 1.65 -.32
Sense of Control 4.14 .59 4.12 .82 .01 .03
Unambiguous Feedback 4.05 .75 3.87 .95 .67 .21
Transformation Time 3.66 .90 3.57 .88 .14 .09
Loss of Conscious 3.92 .97 3.47 1.11 2.97 .43
Clear Goals 4.12 .81 4.30 .94 .73 -.22
Action-Awareness 3.84 .75 3.89 .95 .06 -.06
Composite 3.90 .48 3.91 .60 0 -.02
% Time “In the Zone” 82.31 15.23 87.45 13.16 2.05 -.36
Positive and Negative Affect Schedule - X
Positive .32 .72 .36 .67 .04 -.05
Negative .03 .50 .04 .24 .01 -.03
Attentive .56 .83 .45 .84 .44 .17
Self-Assurance .12 .69 .23 .64 .49 -.18
Serenity -.05 1.10 .02 .75 .10 -.08
Acceptability of Intervention
Satisfaction 1.90 .83 1.69 1.16 .65 .20
Importance/Relevance 1.35 .84 1.60 1.00 1.14 -.27
Likelihood to Practice 1.81 1.00 1.45 1.43 1.35 .29
Ease-of-task 2.28 1.32 1.67 1.58 2.71 .41
a
N = 30 for SMS at time #1
b
N = 32 for all other measures at time 1
c
N = 29 for SMS at time #1
d
N = 31 for all other measures at time 1
e
There were not statistically significant differences in these measures
144
Appendix E3 ANOVA for Order Effects: Mindful Laundry Folding Activity
Running Head: MINDFULNESS AND VIDEOGAME PLAY
Appendix E3. ANOVA for order effects; mindful laundry folding activity
Table E3. ANOVA results for order effects with means and standard deviations; mindful
laundry folding activity
Time 1
a
Time 2
b
x ̄ SD x ̄ SD F Cohens
d
State Mindfulness Scale
Mind 3.71 .62 3.69 .56 .01 .03
Body 3.23 .89 3.61 .75 3.10 -.46
Composite 3.57 .62 3.67 .57 .39 -.16
Intrinsic Motivation Inventory
Composite 4.81 .82 4.15 .67 12.02* .87
Effort 5.05 1.13 4.05 1.40 9.72* .79
Interest / Enjoyment 4.23 1.31 3.29 1.01 10.09* .80
Value 5.13 1.30 4.71 1.18 1.79 .37
Competence 5.06 .95 4.86 .99 .66 .21
Flow State Scale
Autotelic 3.18 .90 2.66 .60 7.51* .69
Challenge 3.51 .73 3.20 .56 3.68 .48
Concentration 3.39 .92 3.18 .93 .79 .22
Sense of Control 3.95 .94 3.84 .79 .28 .13
Unambiguous Feedback 3.73 .83 3.72 .66 .01 .02
Transformation Time 3.46 .83 3.22 1.12 .93 .24
Loss of Conscious 3.45 .88 3.67 1.06 1.70 -.33
Clear Goals 4.28 .66 4.23 .59 .09 .08
Action-Awareness 3.48 .85 3.76 .79 1.87 -.35
Composite 3.59 .53 3.50 .46 .56 .19
% Time “In the Zone” 71.84 20.35 71.47 20.44 .01 .02
Positive and Negative Affect Schedule - X
Positive -.24 .79 -.07 .50 1.06 -.26
Negative -.11 .25 -.23 .55 1.29 .29
Attentive -.07 .72 .14 .60 1.64 -.32
Self-Assurance -.20 .74 -.02 .46 1.50 -.31
Serenity -.10 .72 .01 1.06 .22 -.12
Acceptability of Intervention
Satisfaction 1.42 .93 .59 1.13 10.03* .80
Importance/Relevance 1.16 1.13 .91 .74 1.13 .27
Likelihood to Practice 1.19 1.64 .75 2.09 .87 .24
Ease-of-Task 2.19 1.01 2.34 1.07 .33 -.14
* p < .01
a
N = 29
b
N = 3
145
Appendix E4 ANOVA for Group Differences: Mindful Laundry Folding and Control
Laundry Folding Activities
Running Head: MINDFULNESS AND VIDEOGAME PLAY
Appendix E4. ANOVA for group differences; mindful laundry folding and control laundry
folding activities
Table E4. One-Way ANOVA of scores with significant differences by Group (Mindfulness v
Control): Laundry Folding Activity
Predictor Sum of
Squares
N Mean
Square
F P Cohens
d
95% CI
Primary Outcome
State Mindfulness Scale
Mind 87.44 117 .75 42.59 <.00001 1.21 [.81, 1.60]
Body 101.20 117 .87 17.88 <.00001 .78 [.40, 1.16]
Composite 81.18 117 .70 38.87 <.0001 1.15 [.76, 1.54]
Secondary Outcomes
Intrinsic Motivation Inventory
Effort 256.51 123 2.10 21.83 <.00001 .84 [.47, 1.21]
Value 221.98 123 1.82 .23 .63 -.09 [-.44, .27]
Interest/Enjoy .92 123 1.68 .03 .34 .17 [-.18, .53]
Competence .13 123 .88 .13 .72 -.07 [-.42, .29]
Total 95.56 123 .78 3.36 .07 .33 [-.03, .69]
Flow State Scale
Autotelic 89.20 123 .73 .84 .36 .17 [-.19, .52]
Challenge 73.71 123 .60 7.50 .01 .49 [.13, .85]
Concentration 111.49 123 .91 .08 .78 .05 [-.30, .40]
Sense of
Control
74.35 123 .61 5.93 .02 -.44 [-.80, -.08]
Unambiguous
Feedback
64.54 123 .53 .02 .88 -.03 [-.38, .33]
Transformation
Time
132.53 123 1.09 3.89 .05 .35 [0, .71]
Loss of
Conscious
117.30 123 .96 3.80 .05 -.35 [-.71, .01]
Clear Goals 47.04 123 .39 .01 .91 -.02 [-.37, .33]
Action-
Awareness
79.48 123 .65 17.57 >.0001 -.76 [-1.12, -
.39]
Composite 28.61 123 .24 .19 .66 -.08 [-.43, .28]
% Time “In the
Zone”
57969.65 121 483.08 1.35 .25 .21 [-.15, .57]
Positive and Negative affective Schedule-X
Positive 41.74 123 .34 0 .95 -.01 [-.36, .34]
Negative 16.81 123 .14 .47 .49 -.12 [-.48, .23]
Attentive 61.17 123 .50 1.76 .19 .24 [-.12, .59]
Self-
Assurance
33.59 123 .28 0 .96 -.01 [-.36, .34]
Running Head: MINDFULNESS AND VIDEOGAME PLAY
Serenity 104.05 123 .85 .98 .33 -.18 [-.53, .18]
Semantic Differentiation Scales
Satisfaction 139.50 123 1.14 .29 .59 -.10 [-.45, .26]
Importance /
Relevance
138.58 123 1.14 1.53 .22 .22 [-.13, .58]
Ease of Task 124.53 123 1.02 1.17 .28 -.20 [-.55, .16]
146
Figure 2. State Mindfulness Scale (SMS); Mindful Videogame Versus Control Videogame
Figure 3 State Mindfulness Scale (SMS); Mindful Laundry Versus Control Laundry
2.5 3 3.5 4 SMS Total: Mindful
SMS Mind: Mindful
SMS Body: Mindful
SMS Total: Control
SMS Mind: Control
SMS Body: Control
Note. The SMS is a 5-point self-report Likert-scale with a scoring range from 1-5.
Scores presented are means with 95% confidence intervals for the total score as
well as the mind, and body subscales.
Figure 1a. State Mindfulness Scale (SMS); Mindful Videogame
Versus Control Videogame
2.5 3 3.5 4
SMS Total: Mindful
SMS Mind: Mindful
SMS Body: Mindful
SMS Total: Control
SMS Mind: Control
SMS Body: Control
Figure 1b. State Mindfulness Scale (SMS); Mindful Laundry Versus
Control Laundry
Note. The SMS is a 5-point self-report Likert-scale with a scoring range from 1-5.
Scores presented are means with 95% confidence intervals for the total score as
well as the mind, and body subscales.
147
Figure 4. State Mindfulness Scale (SMS); Mindful Laundry Versus Mindful Videogame
Figure 5. Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI); Mindful Videogame Versus Control Videogame
2.5 3 3.5 4
SMS Total:Laundry
SMS Total:Games
SMS Mind:Laundry
SMS Mind:Games
SMS Body:Laundry
SMS Body:Games
Figure 1c. State Mindfulness Scale (SMS); Mindful Laundry Versus
Mindful Videogame
e The SMS is a 5-point self-report Likert-scale with a scoring range from 1-5.
Scores presented are means with 95% confidence intervals for the total score as
well as the mind, and body subscales.
4 4.5 5 5.5 6
Composite: Mindful
Competence: Mindful
Effort: Mindful
Interest: Mindful
Value: Mindful
Composite: Control
Competence: Control
Effort: Control
Interest: Control
Value: Control
Note. The IMI is a 7-point self-report Likert-scale with a scoring range from 1-7.
Scores presented are means with 95% confidence intervals for the composite score as
well as the competence, effort, interest, and value subscales.
Figure 2a. Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI); Mindful Videogame
Versus Control Videogame
148
Figure 6. Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI); Mindful Laundry Versus Mindful Videogame
Figure 7. Flow State Scale (FSS); Mindful Laundry Versus Mindful Video Game (1 of 2)
3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
IMI Composite: Games
IMI Composite: Laundry
IMI Interest / Enjoyment: Games
IMI Interest / Enjoyment: Laundry
IMI Effort: Games
IMI Effort: Laundry
IMI Competence: Games
IMI Competence: Laundry
IMI Value: Games
IMI Value: Laundry
Figure 2c. Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI); Mindful
Laundry Versus Mindful Videogame
Note. The IMI is a 7-point self-report Likert-scale with a scoring range from 1-7.
Scores presented are means with 95% confidence intervals for the composite score as
well as the competence, effort, interest, and value subscales.
2.5 3 3.5 4
Composite: Games
Composite: Laundry
Action: Games
Action: Laundry
Autotelic: Games
Autotelic: Laundry
Challenge: Games
Challenge: Laundry
Concentration: Games
Concentration: Laundry
Figure 3c at 12 . Flow State Scale (FSS); Mindful Laundry
Versus Mindful Videogame
Note. The FSS is a 5-point self-report Likert-scale with a scoring range from 1-5.
Scores presented are means with 95% confidence intervals for the composite score as
well as the action, autotelic, challenge, and concentration subscales.
149
Figure 8. Flow State Scale (FSS); Mindful Laundry Versus Mindful Video Game (2 of 2)
Figure 9. Percentage of Time “In the Zone”; Mindful Laundry Versus Mindful Videogame
3 3.5 4 4.5
Clear: Games
Clear: Laundry
Loss: Games
Loss: Laundry
Sense: Games
Sense: Laundry
Transformation: Games
Transformation: Laundry
Unambiguous: Games
Unambiguous: Laundry
Note. The FSS is a 5-point self-report Likert-scale with a scoring range from 1-5.
Scores are means with 95% confidence intervals for the subascales of clear goals, loss
of consciousness, sense of control, transformation of time, and and unamiguous feedac
Figure 3c at 22 . Flow State Scale (FSS); Mindful Laundry
Versus Mindful Videogame
65 70 75 80 85 90
Video Game Play
Laundry Folding
Figure 3d. Percentage of time In the Zone ; Mindful Laundry
Versus Mindful Videogame
Note. This uestion was presented as a visual analogue scale w ith a scoring range
from 1-1 . Scores are means with 95% confidence intervals.
150
Figure 10. Positive and Negative Affective Schedule – X (PANAS-X); Mindful Laundry Versus
Mindful Videogame
Figure 11. Satisfaction, Importance/Relevance, Ease-of-Take; Mindful Videogame Versus
Control Videogame
-.5 0 .5 1
Positive: Games
Positive: Laundry
Negative: Games
Negative: Laundry
Attentive: Games
Attentive: Laundry
Serenity: Games
Serenity: Laundry
Self-Assurance: Games
Self-Assurance: Laundry
Figure c. Positive and Negative ffect Schedule-X (P NS-
X); Mindful Laundry Versus Mindful Videogame
Note. The P NS- X is a 5-point self-report Likert-scale with a scoring range from 1-5.
Means with 95% confidence intervals are presented for pre- to post-task change scores
for positive, negative, attentive, serenity, and self-assurance emotion dimensions.
1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Satisfaction: Mindful
Importance/Relevance: Mindful
Ease of Task: Mindful
Satisfaction: Control
Importance/Relevance: Control
Ease of Task: Control
Figure a. Satisfaction, Personal Importance/Relevance of Task, ase
of Task; Mindful Videogame Versus Control Videogame
Note. Mean scores with 95% confidence intervals from 7-point semantic differentiation
scale. Scoring range of 3 (most strongly agree) to -3 (most strongly disagree) (neutral
score of ). Constructs : satisfaction, personal importance/relevance, and ease of task.
151
Figure 12. Satisfaction, Importance/Relevance, Ease-of-Take; Mindful Videogame Versus
Mindful Laundry
Figure 13. Likelihood to Practice Study Activity Mindfully in the Future; Mindful Laundry
Versus Mindful Videogame
.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Satisfaction: Games
Satisfaction: Laundry
Ease of Task: Games
Ease of Task: Laundry
Relevance: Games
Relevance: Laundry
Figure c. Satisfaction, Personal Importance/Relevance of Task, ase
of Task; Mindful Videogame Versus Mindful Laundry
Note. Mean scores with 95% confidence intervals from 7-point semantic differentiation
scale. Scoring range of 3 (most strongly agree) to -3 (most strongly disagree) (neutral
score of ). Constructs : satisfaction, personal importance/relevance, and ease of task.
.5 1 1.5 2
Mindful Game
Mindful Laundry
Figure 5d. Likelihood to Practice Study ctivity Mindfully in the
Future; Mindful Laundry Versus Mindful Videogame
Note. Mean scores with 95% confidence intervals from 7-point semantic differentiation
scale. Scoring range of 3 (will always practice with this activity) to -3 (will never
practice with this activity) (neutral score of ).
152
Figure 14. Task Effectiveness in Training Mindfulness; Mindful Laundry Versus Mindful
Videogame
Figure 15. Preferred Study Activity to Practice Mindfulness in the Future; Mindful Laundry
Versus Mindful Videogame
Figure 5e. Task Effectiveness in Training Mindfulness; Mindful
Laundry Versus Mindful Videogame
Note. reuency of resonses for study uestion aout hich study activity as more
effective in teaching mindfulness romt as given ith forcedmultilechoice
resonse otions of videogame lay laundry folding oth taught me eually and
neither
Figure . Preferred Study ctivity to Practice Mindfulness in
the Future; Mindful Laundry Versus Mindful Videogame
Note. Freuency of responses for study uestion about which study activity they would
use to practice mindfulness in the future. Prompt was given with forced-multiple-
choice response options of videogame play, laundry folding, both, and neither.
Abstract (if available)
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Asset Metadata
Creator
Newell, Jeffery Allan
(author)
Core Title
Zooming in on mindfulness and gaming: the application of a brief, standardized, zoom-based, mindfulness intervention on videogame play as compared to a treatment as usual approach
School
College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Degree Program
Psychology
Degree Conferral Date
2021-08
Publication Date
07/29/2021
Defense Date
06/08/2021
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Tag
applied mindfulness,brief intervention,enjoyment,gamer,mindfulness,mindfulness practice,OAI-PMH Harvest,standardized intervention,videogame play
Format
application/pdf
(imt)
Language
English
Contributor
Electronically uploaded by the author
(provenance)
Advisor
Davison, Gerald (
committee chair
), Schwartz, David (
committee member
), Walsh, David (
committee member
), Wixon, Dennis (
committee member
)
Creator Email
janewell@usc.edu,Jeffanewell@gmail.com
Permanent Link (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC15669260
Unique identifier
UC15669260
Legacy Identifier
etd-NewellJeff-9930
Document Type
Dissertation
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Newell, Jeffery Allan
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(contributing entity),
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
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Tags
applied mindfulness
brief intervention
enjoyment
gamer
mindfulness
mindfulness practice
standardized intervention
videogame play