Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association
September 3, 2026
Blair T Johnson, Taryn J Simon, Chen Li et al.
Chronic stress is a growing public health concern, with cortisol widely recognized as its primary physiological biomarker. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), a standardized multiweek program, has shown promise in improving psychological outcomes, yet its specific effects on cortisol levels have not been meta-analyzed. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of eligible MBSR...
Circulation
March 24, 2026
Fan Wu, LaPrincess Brewer, Vinicius Vieira Neves et al.
Background: Mindfulness-based interventions may improve cardiovascular health (CVH) by supporting behavioral change across multiple risk factors. This study evaluated the impact of Mindfulness-Based Blood Pressure Reduction (MB-BP), a mindfulness program targeting hypertension-related behaviors ( Image 1 ), on CVH using the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8 framework. Methods:...
Evidence & policy : a journal of research, debate and practice
April 4, 2025
Ariana M Albanese, Hannah E Frank, Margaret E Crane et al.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a well-studied treatment that health insurers typically do not cover in the United States. To understand how research can best support efforts towards coverage, researchers must partner with individuals who occupy diverse roles within a health system (for example, policy makers and practitioners). We sought to understand from key informants (policy...
Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging
March 1, 2025
Michael Datko, Jacqueline Lutz, Richa Gawande et al.
1 citation
Behavior change often requires overcoming discomfort or difficult emotions. Emotional dysregulation associated with anxiety or depression may prevent behavior change initiation among people managing chronic illness. Mindfulness training may catalyze chronic disease self-management by reducing experiential avoidance of aversive experiences that act as barriers to change initiation. Using a fMRI...
Psychiatry Research
December 1, 2024
Zev Schuman-Olivier, Richa Gawande, Timothy B. Creedon et al.
10 citations
Mindfulness catalyzes health behavior change. Yet, interoception is dysregulated in depression, potentially impairing behavioral activation. We examined the mediating role of interoceptive appreciation, as measured by how much one trusts and listens to internal bodily signals, on behavior change. Primary care patients with depression, anxiety, or stress disorders related to chronic illness were...
Mindfulness
September 1, 2023
Blair T Johnson, Rebecca L. Acabchuk, Elisabeth A George et al.
45 citations
Universities increasingly offer mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) to improve student health and reduce their impact on overburdened psychological services. It is critical for evidence-based policy to determine for what health outcomes mindfulness programs are effective and under what conditions. Objectives were to: (a) perform a comprehensive analysis of the effects of mindfulness interventions...
Health Psychology
July 6, 2023
Richa Gawande, Lydia Smith, Alexandra Comeau et al.
21 citations
OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of mindfulness training for primary care (MTPC), an integrated warm mindfulness training program, on emotion regulation and its relationship with health behavior change. Interventions that improve self-regulation, particularly emotion regulation, are needed for the self-management of comorbid chronic physical and mental illnesses. Mindfulness-based...
BMC Public Health
December 13, 2022
William Nardi, Nour Elshabassi, Jayson Spas et al.
Background Mindfulness-based programs have the potential to improve the well-being of undergraduate students by reducing anxiety, depression, and isolation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore lived experiences of undergraduates in a mindfulness-based program at a “college of opportunity” that has high proportions of first-generation college...
Journal of Counseling Psychology
July 15, 2021
Shufang Sun, Danhua Lin, Simon B. Goldberg et al.
148 citations
This randomized controlled trial evaluated the effect of a mindfulness-based mobile health (mHealth) intervention, tailored to the pandemic context, among young adult students (N = 114) with elevated anxiety and/or depressive symptoms during quarantine in China, compared to a time- and attention-matched social support-based mHealth control. At baseline, postintervention (1 month), and 2-month...
Harvard Review of Psychiatry
November 1, 2020
Zev Schuman-Olivier, Marcelo Trombka, David Lovas et al.
Abstract Initiating and maintaining behavior change is key to the prevention and treatment of most preventable chronic medical and psychiatric illnesses. The cultivation of mindfulness, involving acceptance and nonjudgment of present-moment experience, often results in transformative health behavior change. Neural systems involved in motivation and learning have an important role to play. A...