Mindfulness and virus: the negative association between mindfulness and hepatitis b virus concentration

Abstract

Hepatitis b, a widely prevalent disease in the world, cannot be cured thoroughly by medical treatments yet. Both buddhist-derived and Langer mindfulness are beneficial for the promotion of individual’s physical health, while the association between mindfulness and HBV might be interfered by mental problems. This study took the first step at the exploration of associations between mindfulness and HBV concentration. 164 chronic HBV patients in China were recruited, and 154 participants’ data were valid. All of them demonstrated active immune reactions to HBV and their HbeAg is active. HBV-DNA is the concentration of hepatitis b virus, measured by the hospital. Three psychological scales with relevant background information were collected: Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS), Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) and Langer Mindfulness Scale (LMS). We controll the unrelated variables and get the result that DASS can moderate the associations between LMS and HBV-DNA (LMS*HBV-DNA: β=.224, p=.0164, △R =.036), which indicates that LMS has a more influential negative relation with HBV-DNA when DASS is low. After controlling unrelated variables as above, we find that MAAS could still predict HBV-DNA (β=-.229, p=.023). An extra finding is that the correlation between diagnosis time and HBV-DNA, MAAS, LMS, DASS is .073, -.326, -.302, .343, respectively. Result suggests that two types of mindfulness both have the potential to reduce HBV concentration, although it needs further intervention studies to test. The associations provide details to mind-body relationship. Finally, the dark side of hepatitis b diagnosis and subsequant treatment should be considered.