JMIR Research Protocols
July 17, 2026
Lillian Ofori Ward, Cate Bailey, Prai Wattanatakulchat et al.
In recent decades, millions of people globally have taken up Buddhist spiritual and secularized meditation practices, such as mindfulness, with the aim of improving their quality of life and well-being. Practitioners are recommended to continue meditating regularly for the long term; however, the effects of regular meditation practice after introductory instruction remain scientifically...
June 25, 2026
Nicholas Bowles, Nicholas T. van Dam, Jonathan N. Davies et al.
preprint
Background/Objectives: Psychological benefits have been demonstrated across a variety of different meditation offerings. There remains, however, limited evidence clarifying how different ‘doses’ of meditation relate to benefits, highlighting fundamental limitations for clinical best practice. The present study aimed to examine dose–response effects across a range of daily mindfulness meditation...
JMIR mHealth and uHealth
June 8, 2026
Julia Adams, Jonathan N. Davies, Prai Wattanatakulchat et al.
Meditation apps are increasingly popular but face significant engagement challenges. Most research does not meaningfully capture real-world engagement or associated user characteristics. Engagement patterns and reasons for engaging or disengaging remain relatively unexplored. This study aimed to examine Medito app user engagement over the first 30 days after download and how intended use,...
Mindfulness
May 19, 2026
Tim Wood, Merle Kock, Nicholas T. van Dam et al.
Abstract Objectives Meditation can elicit intense experiences that change the sense of self, alter worldview, and evoke strong negative and positive emotions, impacting daily life. These intense meditation-related experiences (IMREs) often begin suddenly but their emotional impact and meaning can change significantly as meditators reflect on and interpret them over time, shaped by an interplay...
Scientific Reports
May 19, 2026
Karin Matko, Cate Bailey, Julieta Galante et al.
Abstract Contemplative practices (including meditation and yoga) are increasingly popular worldwide, especially as alternatives and/or complements to mental health treatment. However, nationally representative samples that allow for accurate estimates of prevalence and relation to mental health are scarce. We conducted a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey in Australia and New...
Scientific Reports
May 8, 2026
Erola Pons, Julieta Galante, Nicholas T. van Dam et al.
Depersonalization/derealization (DPDR) involves feeling detached from one's body, thoughts, or emotions and is often triggered by trauma, stress, mental health issues, or drug use, typically causing high distress. Similar experiences are also reported in meditation contexts, where they are often described as positive, insightful, and meaningful. However, no study has systematically compared...
April 26, 2026
Olivier Sandilands, Julieta Galante, Brian Spittles et al.
preprint
Emergent phenomena, experiences, and effects (EPEEs)—such as flow states, energetic phenomena, and visionary experiences—occur widely through diverse causes and across various contexts. These include practices that are gaining popularity in clinical settings and beyond like meditation and psychedelics, but also triggers like stress or major life changes. While some EPEEs are therapeutic,...
Mindfulness
February 25, 2026
Cate Bailey, Nicholas T. van Dam, Jonathan N. Davies et al.
Abstract Objectives The prevalence of mental health disorders globally is increasing, and contemplative practices (such as meditation/mindfulness) are recommended by many health professionals to address this issue. These practices now need to be carefully evaluated for safety, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness. We aimed to investigate key data to inform future economic evaluations in this...
Journal of Medical Internet Research
February 2, 2026
Julia Adams, Jonathan N. Davies, Prai Wattanatakulchat et al.
Meditation apps are increasingly popular, yet there is limited understanding of how much users actually engage with them. While meditation apps show promise for supporting mental health, engagement in real-world settings appears to be notably low. The patterns of app use and the factors that influence usage remain relatively unclear. This study aims to examine the extent of meditation app use...
Pedagogy Culture and Society
December 8, 2025
Christopher T. Mccaw, Haisu Sun, Julieta Galante et al.
This article presents a model for the application of contemplative pedagogy in higher education, with a focus on rich contextualisation and interdisciplinarity. We articulate a vision for a multiplicity of contemplative pedagogies and present a conceptual framework to guide the understanding, analysis, and evaluation of contemplative practices within learning processes. This framework draws...
BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies
December 4, 2025
Jonathan N. Davies, Cate Bailey, Julieta Galante et al.
1 citation
BACKGROUND: Meditation use has grown significantly in recent decades. However, population prevalence data is largely absent in Australasia. METHODS: We surveyed adults in Australia (n = 2,072) and New Zealand (n = 571) in 2023, using census-informed quotas for age, gender, ancestry/ethnicity, region and income. We calculated lifetime and past year meditation use estimates and conducted...
Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress
December 1, 2025
Maris Vainre, Tim Dalgleish, Tia Bendriss-Otiko et al.
2 citations
Employers and universities globally subsidise access to mindfulness-based programmes (MBPs) for their employees and students to improve work performance, despite unclear evidence. This paper offers the highest quality synthesis of MBPs' impact on work performance in academic and occupational settings to date (PROSPERO #191756). On 2nd August 2024, we searched eight databases. The primary...
Current Psychology
December 1, 2025
Nandini Karunamuni, Tim Wood, Julieta Galante
The mind-brain relationship (MBR) problem is an important philosophical pursuit with far-reaching implications for research and practice in the realm of mental health. Although there is a multitude of proposed resolutions to this quandary, the fundamental questions associated with MBR still persist unexplained. This article is an invitation to the reader to embark on an exploration of this...
October 20, 2025
Karin Matko, Cate Bailey, Julieta Galante et al.
preprint
Introduction: Contemplative practices (including meditation and yoga) are increasingly popular worldwide, especially as alternatives and/or complements to mental health treatment. However, nationally representative samples that allow for accurate estimates of prevalence and relation to mental health are scarce. Methods: We conducted a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey in...
JMIR Research Protocols
July 29, 2025
Nicholas Bowles, Alexander Burger, Jonathan N. Davies et al.
Mindfulness meditation has demonstrated modest benefits for mental health and well-being, although the relationship between practice dose and outcomes is unclear. Meta-analyses and randomized controlled trials have shown mixed results so far, although such results may stem from methodological issues rather than reflecting the absence of an underlying effect. Research outside structured programs...
July 25, 2025
Tom Wood, Merle Kock, Nicholas T. van Dam et al.
preprint
Introduction Meditation can elicit intense experiences that change the sense of self, alter worldview, and evoke strong negative and positive emotions, impacting daily life. Intense meditation-related experiences (IMREs) are often sparked by a profound moment, can change in appraised emotional valence and conceptual meaning over time, and are shaped by an interplay of embodied and conceptual...
BMC Psychology
July 1, 2025
Patrick Pui Kin Kor, Kee Lee Chou, Alex Pak Lik Tsang et al.
2 citations
Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have shown promise in reducing stress among family caregivers (FCs) of people with dementia (PWD). However, the long-term stress-relieving effects of traditional MBIs are often limited by challenges in maintaining regular practice, leading to issues with adherence and attrition. To address these limitations, this study protocol aims to test a novel...
June 2, 2025
Maris Vainre, Lisa Doan, Cecilie S. Traberg et al.
preprint
Misinformation about mindfulness is increasingly common, misleading consumers to engage in ineffective or potentially harmful programs. Inoculation theory suggests that resistance to misinformation can be fostered by inducing a sense of threat and offering pre-emptive refutations of deceptive techniques. Yet, its application to mindfulness misinformation remains unexplored. Here, we evaluate...
May 27, 2025
Prai Wattanatakulchat, Julieta Galante, Timothy Wood et al.
preprint
Objective. Unwanted meditation-related experiences commonly occur and alternate with positive experiences over time. So far, effects have been studied as discrete events, creating difficulties to predict challenging experiences. We explored meditation experiences through a developmental lens, investigating whether a modern interpretation of the Stages of Insight (SoI), a Buddhist model of...
Mindfulness
March 1, 2025
Julieta Galante, Nicholas T. van Dam
6 citations
Abstract We offer an invited commentary on the article entitled “Mindfulness for Global Public Health: Critical Analysis and Agenda” by Doug Oman. First, we question his proposal that it would be advantageous to include a more diverse set of contemplative practices under the mindfulness umbrella term, and instead we argue for the opposite. We propose that academics move the term mindfulness...
February 17, 2025
Nicholas Bowles, A. Bürger, Jonathan N. Davies et al.
BACKGROUND Mindfulness meditation has demonstrated modest benefits for mental health and well-being, although the relationship between practice dose and outcomes is unclear. Meta-analyses and randomized controlled trials have shown mixed results so far, although such results may stem from methodological issues rather than reflecting the absence of an underlying effect. Research outside...
February 11, 2025
Christopher T. Mccaw, Julieta Galante, Cullan Joyce et al.
This article presents a model for the application of contemplative pedagogy in higher education settings, with a focus on rich contextualisation and interdisciplinarity. We articulate a vision for a multiplicity of contemplative pedagogies, and present a conceptual framework to guide the understanding, analysis, and evaluation of contemplative practices within learning processes. This framework...
Clinical Psychological Science
January 6, 2025
Nicholas T. van Dam, Jessica Targett, Jonathan N. Davies et al.
14 citations
Estimates suggest that meditation use is comparable to mental-health-service access in the United States. Understanding meditation-related adverse effects (AEs) is therefore critical. We aimed to (a) estimate the incidence of meditation-related unusual experiences and AEs using different methods and (b) identify sociodemographic and health-related characteristics predicting their incidence. We...
BMC Psychology
October 21, 2024
Patrick Pui Kin Kor, Kee Lee Chou, Steven H Zarit et al.
8 citations
Caregiver stress can pose serious health and psychological concerns, highlighting the importance of timely interventions for family caregivers of people with dementia. Single-session mindfulness-based interventions could be a promising yet under-researched approach to enhancing their mental well-being within their unpredictable, time-constrained contexts. This trial will evaluate the...
Syst Rev
August 6, 2024
Claire Friedrich, Toni Fairbairn, Graham Denton et al.
Public involvement in an aggregate and individual participant data meta-analysis of mindfulness-based programmes for mental health promotion.