The Effects of Meditation, Yoga, and Mindfulness on Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in Tertiary Education Students: A Meta-Analysis
Frontiers in Psychiatry April 24, 2019 J. Breedvelt, Yagmur Amanvermez, Mathias Harrer et al.
A meta-analysis of 23 randomized controlled trials with 1,373 tertiary education students found that meditation, yoga, and mindfulness interventions produced moderate reductions in depression, anxiety, and stress at post-test (effect sizes g = 0.42–0.46). However, when compared to active control conditions, the effect dropped to a small, non-significant g = 0.13. Most studies had a high risk of bias, no trial reported on safety, and only two examined academic achievement. The authors caution that the overall poor quality of the evidence means results should be interpreted with care, and it remains unclear whether these interventions affect academic outcomes or have negative side effects.