Journal of Health Psychology
May 1, 1999
Jean L. Kristeller, C. Brendan Hallett
681 citations
A 6-week meditation-based group intervention for Binge Eating Disorder (BED) was tested in 18 obese women. Binges dropped from an average of 4.02 per week to 1.57 per week, and binge severity also decreased. Scores on the Binge Eating Scale, depression, and anxiety inventories all fell significantly, while participants' sense of control increased. More time spent on eating-related meditation exercises predicted greater reductions on the Binge Eating Scale. The findings suggest that meditation training may be a useful component in treating BED.
Journal of Health Psychology
December 21, 2024
Nima Javadzade, Victoria Omranifard, Fatemeh Zargar et al.
4 citations
An eight-week mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program significantly reduced depression levels in depressed elderly individuals over 60 years old. The randomized controlled trial compared two groups of 30 participants each, with the experimental group attending weekly 1.5-hour MBSR sessions. Depression and physical problems were measured before and after the intervention using the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Physical Problems and Emotional Problems Inventory. The findings suggest MBSR is a suitable treatment that caregivers and psychologists in nursing homes can use to improve the mental well-being of elderly individuals.
Journal of Health Psychology
December 31, 2025
Laura C. Carvalho, Jorge Encantado, Arlen C. Moller et al.
Psychedelic experiences may help people adopt healthier behaviors, according to a survey of 271 adults. Participants reported changes across 74 behaviors after their most impactful psychedelic experience. The most common changes were increases in contemplative practices (63%), time spent in nature (55%), and personally meaningful social activities (54%). Most changes were in a healthy direction. Higher perceived meaningfulness of the experience and having a set intention beforehand were significantly associated with overall healthy change. The study cannot establish causality but suggests that intention and meaningfulness are candidate mechanisms for how psychedelics might facilitate positive behavior change.
Journal of Health Psychology
September 30, 2024
Carly Hunt, Janelle E. Letzen, Dana Direnzio et al.
A new scale, the Self-Efficacy for Regular Meditation Practice Scale (SERMS), was developed to measure confidence in one's ability to meditate regularly and secure the psychological, social, and structural supports needed. Online survey data were collected at baseline and one-week follow-up. Exploratory factor analysis (n = 249) and confirmatory factor analysis (n = 249) revealed a three-factor structure: self-efficacy to benefit from meditation, persist in meditation, and obtain teacher and community support. Validity and test-retest reliability coefficients indicated the SERMS is a promising measure for studying meditation behavior adoption.
Journal of Health Psychology
May 11, 2026
Canan Bozkurt-Duman, Hülya Bulut, Yasemin Yildirim
Among 400 hospitalized lung cancer patients in western Türkiye, higher self-transcendence was associated with lower hopelessness. Patients reported moderate self-transcendence and high hopelessness on average. A significant negative correlation indicates that as self-transcendence increases, hopelessness decreases. The findings suggest that supporting self-transcendence through psychosocial interventions could improve psychological well-being and reduce hopelessness in lung cancer care.
Journal of Health Psychology
May 2, 2026
Arnab Basu, Nadindla Srividya
A systematic review of 64 studies from 2020 to 2025 finds that spiritual practices such as meditation, mindfulness, and workplace yoga are associated with improved well-being in working women. These practices correlate with lower cortisol levels, better autonomic balance, and self-reported improvements in emotional regulation, including reduced anxiety, fatigue, and depression. In the workplace, spiritual engagement is linked to higher job satisfaction and increased energy. However, the evidence is primarily associative, relying on self-reported measures and heterogeneous samples, indicating a need for longitudinal, gender-specific research.
Journal of Health Psychology
September 1, 2021
Jianbin Xu
Older Buddhists in Singapore use Buddhist beliefs and practices to cope with stress in three distinct ways: meaning-making coping, meditative coping, and ego-transcendence coping. Meaning-making coping involves using the concepts of karma and duḥkha to understand stress. Meditative coping includes visualization and mantra meditation. Ego-transcendence coping relies on the idea of non-attachment to the ego. These three coping methods can be understood through a Buddhism-as-cognitive-schema perspective.