Evidence of a symptom cluster: The impact of mindfulness meditation on self-reported stress, fatigue, pain and sleep among U.S. military service members and veterans

Abstract

Physical and behavioral symptoms of stress may occur in a consistent constellation of symptoms. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of mindfulness meditation (MM) training on U.S. military service members and veterans’ self-reported stress, fatigue, pain, and sleep disturbances, and to investigate whether changes in the outcome measures were uniform or independent of one another. Participants attended 8-weeks of MM training and completed the following pre/post evaluations: Perceived Stress Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Data were separately analyzed for those experiencing pain at any level and for those experiencing high pain. Scores on each measure were significantly correlated at both measurement occasions (p < .05) and did not differ significantly across training (p > .05), suggesting that MM-related effects on the relationship between the four measures were congruent. These results suggest a symptom cluster, independent of self-reported pain level.