JMIR Mental Health
September 14, 2026
Otto Simonsson, Zishan Jiwani, Mini Ruiz et al.
Background: Meditation has become increasingly popular in recent decades. However, relatively little remains known about the prevalence of and risk factors for adverse experiences related to a single meditation practice. Objective: The objective of our study was to examine adverse experiences associated with 3 brief, digitally delivered meditation practices (mindfulness, self-compassion, and...
Mindfulness
March 9, 2026
Simon B Goldberg, Zishan Jiwani, Cortland J Dahl et al.
Objectives: Digital technology opens the possibility of providing meditation instruction in the midst of daily activities. This study explores the use of "active" meditation practices which involve meditating while completing daily activities (e.g., folding laundry). Method: We use data from public users of the Healthy Minds Program (HMP) meditation app (N = 26,532, Sample 1) and from a...
Clinical psychology : a publication of the Division of Clinical Psychology of the American Psychological Association
March 1, 2024
Simon B Goldberg, Richard J Davidson
A lot has happened in the 20 years since Baer (2003) published the first meta-analysis of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) in Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice.The year 2003 was a time before the iPhone, before Facebook, long before the COVID-19 pandemic, and certainly before advances in artificial intelligence brought algorithmdelivered content to our digital devices and large...
npj Mental Health Research
April 18, 2023
Zishan Jiwani, Raquel Tatar, Cortland Dahl et al.
Digital interventions have the potential to alleviate mental health disparities for marginalized and minoritized communities. The current study examined whether disparities in access and utilization of meditation in the United States (US) were reduced for a freely available meditation app. We analyzed demographic and usage data from US-based users of the Healthy Minds Program (HMP; N = 66,482)...
Mindfulness
September 20, 2022
Zishan Jiwani, Sin U Lam, J Davidson Richard et al.
Objectives: There is limited understanding of what motivates people to initiate and sustain a meditation practice. This study investigates initial and current motivations for meditation, demographic variability in motivations, and associations with ongoing and lifetime meditation practice. Methods: A national sample of internet users were recruited to examine initial and current motivations for...
Nature Reviews Psychology
August 1, 2022
Simon B Goldberg
Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have entered mainstream Western culture in the past four decades. There are now dozens of MBIs with varying degrees of empirical support and a variety of mindfulness-specific psychological mechanisms have been proposed to account for the beneficial effects of MBIs. Although it has long been acknowledged that non-specific or common factors might contribute...
PLoS One
2022
Otto Simonsson, Simon B Goldberg, Joseph Marks et al.
The European Union Brexit referendum has divided the British electorate, with high levels of animosity between those who affiliate with the Remain side (Remainers) and the Leave side (Leavers) of the debate. Previous research has shown that a brief befriending meditation reduces affective polarization among Democrats and Republicans in the United States, but the results have not been replicated...
The Cochrane database of systematic reviews
October 20, 2021
Simon B Goldberg, Brian Pace, Matas Griskaitis et al.
Background: Substance use disorders (SUDs) are highly prevalent and associated with a substantial public health burden. Although evidence-based interventions exist for treating SUDs, many individuals remain symptomatic despite treatment, and relapse is common.Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been examined for the treatment of SUDs, but available evidence is mixed. Objectives: To...
Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment
August 1, 2019
Andrew S McClintock, Simon B Goldberg, Christopher L Coe et al.
Chronic alcohol misuse can result in chronically elevated interleukin (IL)-6, a pro-inflammatory cytokine, in the bloodstream. Given that Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) has been shown to reduce alcohol misuse, MBRP might also be effective in reducing IL-6 concentrations. Past research has found, however, that IL-6 does not respond consistently to mindfulness-based interventions....