Estelle Higgins

School: The University of Chicago

Major: Psychology

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21985/n2-tyw3-g174

Hi, I’m Estelle! I recently graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in Psychology with Honors and a B.A. in Comparative Human Development. Within and beyond these majors, I have sought to understand brain-mind-body interactions and their embedding in sociocultural settings. More specifically, my passions lie at the interface between stress, mental health, and the immune system. My honors thesis and this publication address these relationships, and the effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction in a clinical population of individuals with asthma. In the future, I hope to pursue a doctorate degree in clinical psychology and ultimately conduct integrative mind-body research, in addition to informing and implementing targeted interventions through clinical practice. Beyond academics, I love sailing and playing piano, and puppies of all types.

Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on Airway Inflammation in Individuals with Asthma

Abstract

Chronic inflammatory diseases such as asthma are highly vulnerable to exacerbations by psychological stress and have high comorbidity with mood and anxiety disorders. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), the leading meditation training in healthcare settings, has been shown to decrease stress, reduce psychological symptoms, and improve physical symptoms. Given its psychological and physiological targets, MBSR has promise as an intervention in asthma, a disease marked by interactions between psychological and physiological symptoms. Yet, MBSR’s ability to impact the pathology in specific clinical populations remains largely unexplored. We investigated the effects of an 8-week MBSR training, relative to a wait-list control group, on the association between inflammation, chronic stress, and mood and anxiety symptoms in adults with asthma. Chronic stress and symptoms of depression and anxiety were determined at baseline and clinically-relevant inflammatory markers were collected at baseline and six monthly follow-ups. Results show that asthma control improved significantly over time in individuals randomized to MBSR, relative to controls. Furthermore, chronic stress was increasingly associated with higher sputum eosinophils over time in controls, but those receiving MBSR training were protected from this effect. Supporting and extending existing evidence of bidirectional brain-body communication, our findings suggest that training in MBSR improved asthma control and buffered effects of psychological stress on eosinophilic inflammation. MBSR may thus be a clinically valuable adjunct to asthma treatment.