An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study on the Effects of Psychological Well-Being, Meditation, and Psychedelics on Mind-Wandering

Abstract

This study used a smartphone technology, Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) to collect ecologically valid information about the participants’ mind-wandering levels in their natural environment. Unlike in prior mind-wandering studies, continuous measurement of mind-wandering was adopted. The aim of the research was to examine the association between mind-wandering and psychological well-being considering four distinct features, depression, anxiety, as well as hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. A more detailed analysis was performed on the association between the negative indicators of well-being, depression and anxiety, and different mind-wandering types, valence, time-orientation, and repetitiveness. Moreover, we examined whether the predicted negative effect of meditation and psychedelic experiences on mind-wandering would be found. In all our analyses, age was controlled since prior research has indicated that it affects mind-wandering. The study showed that depression was the only psychological well-being feature that predicted mind-wandering and it was concluded that higher depression levels are associated with higher mind-wandering. Depression was also found to predict negatively-valenced mind-wandering, rumination, and worrying. Age was also found to be a significant predictor of mind-wandering, and the results showed that our mind-wandering levels decrease as we age. However, no associations between either meditation or psychedelic experiences and mind-wandering were found. Our study supported prior mind-wandering research that has shown a robust association between negative well-being and mind-wandering. Moreover, the results indicated that mind-wandering is not necessarily an all-or-nothing phenomenon. Mind can wander in a smaller or larger degree while simultaneously being focused on the task at hand.