Weekly Dynamics of Psychopathological and Symptom Networks During Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Emotional Distress

Research Background Traditional psychotherapy research tends to emphasize description rather than explanation, relying excessively on data accumulation while neglecting theoretical construction and development (Gelo & Salvatore, 2016). Complex network theory and its related methods can overcome the limitations of traditional empiricism, providing a deeper theoretical framework and analytical tools for psychotherapy research. By applying complex network methods, it becomes possible to comprehensively analyze the multidimensional and multicausal dynamic relationships between symptoms or psychological variables during psychotherapy, thus gaining a clearer understanding of the processes underlying the development and recovery of mental health problems.

Network analysis can reveal the direct connections between different variables (Borsboom, 2017), rather than relying solely on changes in overall mean levels. Combined with multi-time-point measurement designs, researchers can track gradual changes in relationships between variables during the intervention, thereby identifying which associations change first in the therapeutic process and which variables may play key roles throughout the intervention (Blanken et al., 2019; Cervin et al., 2020). This contributes to an in-depth exploration of the mechanisms underlying psychological interventions and a more comprehensive understanding of change patterns in the therapeutic process.

Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) are a form of psychotherapy whose effectiveness has been widely validated (Wielgosz et al., 2019). Through regular mindfulness practice, individuals tend to develop healthier behavioral patterns, such as reduction of substance abuse, self-harm, suicidal behaviors, and eating disorder symptoms (Schuman-Olivier et al., 2020). Mindfulness-centered interventions are applicable to both clinical and non-clinical populations: not only to patients with physical or mental disorders (Carlson, 2012; Turgon et al., 2019), but also to individuals experiencing behavioral or emotional distress (Ju, 2022; Ma et al., 2018), all of whom can benefit from short-term or long-term mindfulness practice. Both traditional face-to-face formats and online mindfulness programs have been shown to improve emotional well-being and enhance quality of life (Li et al., 2025; Taylor et al., 2021). The convenience and accessibility of online interventions, in particular, enable more people experiencing emotional distress to receive continuous psychological support.

In addition to studying the efficacy of interventions, understanding the mechanisms of mindfulness interventions is equally important. Many researchers have begun to explore the mechanisms underlying Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) (Gu et al., 2015; Maloney et al., 2024). Traditional mechanism studies are mostly based on mediation models that conceptualize mechanisms as static variables linking interventions and outcomes (Kazdin, 2007), making it difficult to capture the dynamic interactions among multiple variables (such as distress tolerance, experiential avoidance, and cognitive flexibility) during the intervention process. The cross-diagnostic interactions and longitudinal predictive relationships between these transdiagnostic factors and anxiety or depressive symptoms during intervention remain unclear.

Therefore, to gain a deeper understanding of how mindfulness interventions "take effect" and the "change patterns" that occur during the process, this study is based on Liu's (2024) Rhombus Model of Psychopathology in Emotional Distress. Using a randomized controlled trial design, weekly measurements will be conducted on individuals participating in an online mindfulness intervention. By applying network analysis methods, this study will focus on the weekly dynamics of psychopathological and symptom networks formed by key mechanism variables-distress tolerance, experiential avoidance, life engagement, and cognitive flexibility-as well as anxiety and depression symptoms during the intervention. The aim is to systematically reveal the dynamic processes and core pathways through which mindfulness interventions drive psychological change.