An eight-week mindfulness and psychoeducation program to investigate metacognitive beliefs as a mechanism of effect on anxiety and depression symptoms in a general population.

This was an intervention of eight 90-minute weekly sessions comprised of mindfulness training and psychoeducation on emotions, anxiety and depression. A certified trainer of the Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB) program, on which this intervention was based, delivered it face-to-face, with more than fifteen years of experience teaching mindfulness and meditation. It was delivered at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs campus, over 8 successive weekends. Participants were allocated to different groups in the order they signed up for the study, making this a quasi-randomised trial. Participants received workbooks to complete both in class with support and to journal their meditation practice and emotional reactivity between classes. The content of these journals was kept private, except for voluntary disclosure during in-class discussions. Participants were asked to do 15 minutes of formal mindfulness practice per day, with the option of guided recordings or self-guided practice. Participants recorded the timing and comments about the session in a provided meditation tracking form. Four of the eight sessions taught an appraisal model of emotions and provided support in developing plans to respond better under the influence of anger, sadness, fear, and enjoyable emotions. This content is based on the psychoeducational component of CEB, taken from the teacher training manual. The other four sessions were mindfulness training, teaching basic theory and including 2x15-minute formal sessions. The content of this component was also taken from the CEB teacher training manual. Attendance was monitored, as participants were required to attend 80% of the sessions.