'Mindfulness' can improve adults' poor health caused by childhood adversity

A new study has revealed that mindfulness and accepting the present moments can help in improving the health of adults who were mistreated or ignored as kids.

Nearly one-fourth people reported three or more types of adverse childhood experiences, and almost 30 percent reported having three or more stress-related health conditions like depression, headache, or back pain, noted the researchers.

However, the risk of having multiple health conditions was nearly 50 percent lower among those with the highest level of mindfulness compared to those with the lowest. This was true even for those who had multiple types of childhood adversity.

Regardless of the amount of childhood adversity, those who were more mindful also reported significantly better health behaviors, like getting enough sleep, and better functioning, such as having fewer days per month when they felt poorly, either mentally or physically.

Many smaller studies have shown that learning mindfulness practices like meditation could improve psychological and physical symptoms such as depression and pain, more research would be needed to see if interventions to increase mindfulness could improve the health and functioning of those who have had adverse childhood experiences.

The study will be published in the October issue of Preventive Medicine.