Abstract
This exploratory study extends a previously implemented randomized protocol to examine whether incorporating Buddhist-based spiritual and philosophical components into deconstructive meditation is associated with different patterns of psychological change. We compared secular deconstructive meditation (S-SI; n = 49), Buddhist-based deconstructive meditation (B-SI; n = 53), and a waitlist control condition (WL; n = 50) on depression-related outcomes (dysfunctional attitudes, identity threat, and depressive symptoms) and selflessness-related processes (connectedness to humanity, connectedness to nature, and cognitive decentering). Participants completed pre- and post-intervention assessments, and changes across conditions were examined using repeated-measures MANOVA. Within-subject mediation analyses further explored whether changes in selflessness-related processes were associated with changes in depression-related outcomes. Both active conditions showed greater reductions in depressive symptoms than the waitlist condition. Compared with S-SI, B-SI showed greater reductions in dysfunctional attitudes and identity threat, as well as larger increases in connectedness to humanity, connectedness to nature, and cognitive decentering. Within B-SI, changes in cognitive decentering and connectedness to nature showed significant indirect effects on changes in dysfunctional attitudes, whereas changes in connectedness to humanity showed significant indirect effects on changes in identity threat in both active conditions. None of the examined processes showed significant indirect effects on changes in depressive symptoms in either active condition. These findings suggest that the Buddhist-based condition may engage a broader range of self-related processes associated with depressive vulnerability. Given the exploratory, nonconcurrent design, these findings require confirmation in prospectively randomized comparisons.