Effects of mindfulness training on sustained attention and mind-wandering in older adults: A randomized controlled trial

Older adults exhibit age-related declines in processes of attentional control,demonstrating an emergent need to identify mind-body interventions that support healthycognitive aging. Mindfulness training is a promising intervention for improving attentionalcontrol processes, but relatively few methodologically rigorous studies have examined whetherthese effects extend to older adults. This pre-registered Stage II randomized controlled trial ofolder adults (N = 150), aged 65-85 years, examined the effects of eight weeks of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) versus an active control training program on immediate andlong-term metrics of attentional control. Compared to the active control, MBSR did notdifferentially improve sustained attention or reduce mind-wandering in either the short-term orlong-term, although improvements were observed across some metrics of sustained attention andmind-wandering in both groups. Exploratory analyses are discussed. Our findings suggest thatmindfulness training may not differentially enhance attentional control among older adults.