Phd in PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIAL NEUROSCIENCE

Thesis title: Mind-body medicine interventions: the contribution to tackling loneliness and promoting health and resilience

This PhD thesis develops through the different chapters with the intention of exploring the condition of loneliness in various population groups, such as older people, adolescents and teachers, also in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, and then proposing mind-body medicine interventions, particularly mindfulness-based programs, as a possible solution to counteract the negative effects of loneliness and promote health and resilience both at the individual and collective level. Specifically, Chapter 1 investigates loneliness and health-related quality of life in community-dwelling and institutionalized elderly, Chapter 2 focuses on loneliness in adolescence and its correlation with the preference for online social interactions and a problematic internet use, Chapter 3 explores the links between rumination and negative repetitive thinking with loneliness and the benefits coming from a mindfulness training, Chapter 4 introduces a broader perspective, by showing how mind-body medicine interventions can have positive effects on the reduction of emotional symptoms and maladaptive outcomes and on adolescents’ cooperativeness and prosocial behaviours, Chapter 5 presents the benefits of a mindfulness-based program on teachers’ emotional distress, interoceptive awareness and self-efficacy with a special focus on the predictive role of personality traits. The aim of the thesis is to highlight the importance of mind-body medicine approaches in promoting well-being, readiness for change and resilience both at an individual but also at a collective level, considering the numerous challenges our communities are facing nowadays.