QOL: Working on Stress Reduction Intervention with Veterans

Molly Scanlon, Ph.D. is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Writing and Communication in the Halmos College of Arts & Sciences. She received an NSU Quality of Life (QOL) grant for her project “Mixed Methods Analysis of Mindfulness Meditation in a South Florida Veteran Population.”

Tell me about your recent grant-funded project.
The purpose of this grant is to investigate the effects of an eight-week, mindfulness-based stress reduction intervention on veterans’ mental health symptoms. We are collecting information on perceived change in quality of life through self-report measures and neurological changes through EEG measures.

Who is working with you on this project?
Dr. Ali Panahi was my Co-PI, a professor in the College of Engineering and Computing who brought expertise in the use of the EEG machine and an understanding of brain signals. I have expertise on the psychological side of this project, and I have been a meditation leader for years. Matthew Chenworth, Senior Director of NSU Military Affairs from the veterans resource center at NSU was a part of supporting this research as well. Finally, our community partner was Yoga4Vets, which created eight weeks of content on trauma-informed yoga for veterans.

How does this grant intersect with your work at NSU?
At the time of this grant, I was a master’s student in the Master’s in Family Therapy program at NSU. This grant was my first project involving meditation research while I was beginning my new career as a therapist.

What advice do you have for other grant seekers at NSU?
Collaboration can be tough but is really amazing to lean on and learn from the expertise of colleagues.

What is the next project on your agenda?
In conjunction with this study, we ran a pilot study on participants completing a 40-day yoga practice in order to test this activity on neurological changes using the EEG machine. We found that alpha waves increased (indicating a stress-free brain), an increase in delta waves (indicating deep relaxation), and an increase in gamma waves (indicating increased positive emotions, more focus, decreased anxiety and fear, and reduced depressive symptoms). I hope to be able to write up the findings of this pilot study for publication.