Mindfulness
January 1, 2026
Yanli Lin, Grant S Shields
Focused attention (FA) meditation narrows the width of attentional focus and slows the rate at which attention can be narrowed further, while open monitoring (OM) meditation speeds up the rate of attention narrowing and increases nondecision time, suggesting distinct cognitive mechanisms. In a within-subject experiment with 29 meditation-naïve participants, FA reduced the maximum attentional spotlight width compared to OM and an active control condition, and slowed the rate of narrowing. OM accelerated attention narrowing and increased time for perceptual-motor and motor processes. These computational model-based results indicate FA may limit initial distraction but hinder rapid attentional recalibration, whereas OM improves target selection speed at the cost of slower encoding and execution.
Mindfulness
January 1, 2026
Ryan S Wexler, Wade Balsamo, Devon J Fox et al.
A qualitative analysis of session recordings from a clinical trial of Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) for patients with lumbosacral radicular pain identified four stages of how participants learn to relate to chronic pain: Pain Vigilance and Attention Dysregulation, Attention Regulation and its application to Experiential Avoidance, Metacognitive Awareness, and Pain Reappraisal. Some participants initially used attention skills to avoid pain rather than engage with it. The progression, termed the Vigilance-Avoidance Metacognition-Reappraisal (VA-MR) framework, suggests that therapeutic benefit requires a skilled therapist to guide patients through these stages, particularly navigating initial avoidance tendencies.
Mindfulness
November 1, 2025
Natalie R. Beylin, Emely Covarrubías, Matthew J. Zawadzki
Higher trait mindfulness is associated with lower reward-based eating, and an 8-week mindfulness intervention via the Headspace mobile app reduced reward-based eating and improved trait mindfulness. Among 137 participants (mean age 38, 73.7% female) randomly assigned to the app or a control group, the strongest protective link was with the lack of satiety component. Changes in mindfulness predicted changes in reward-based eating only for the Headspace group, indicating that the training drove the improvement.
Mindfulness
October 2, 2025
Shani Zohar Puris, Kim Yuval, Gebreyohans Gebremariam et al.
A nonrandomized open trial tested the feasibility of Mindfulness-SOS, a lay- and minimally guided mobile health mindfulness- and compassion-based intervention adapted for diverse forcibly displaced people, among 60 Eritrean asylum-seekers in an unstable urban setting in Israel during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fifty-eight participants showed high adherence to session modules and moderate overall adherence. Higher pre-intervention post-traumatic stress symptoms and post-migration living difficulties predicted lower engagement with meditation practice exercises. Greater engagement with meditation exercises was associated with less deterioration in depression and anxiety, but not with change in post-traumatic stress symptoms, from pre- to post-intervention. Mindfulness-SOS may be a feasible selective preventive intervention for asylum-seekers in stressful post-displacement settings.
Mindfulness
October 1, 2025
Kelly A. Grogan
Graduate students in STEM programs who used a meditation app for about 10 minutes per day over 8 weeks reported substantially lower depression, anxiety, and physical symptom scores compared to peers who continued their usual routines. Depression scores dropped by 35% and anxiety scores by 41% relative to the control group; the control group showed no change. The app users completed meditation sessions on roughly 82% of days. The findings suggest that a simple daily meditation practice can improve mental health in this population.
Mindfulness
October 1, 2025
Dana Rose Garfin, Cordelia Lee, Branislav Jovanovic et al.
An 8-week Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, compared to a health promotion attention control, led to greater reductions in depression and anxiety among unstably-housed women in residential substance use disorder treatment. Posttraumatic stress symptoms improved over time in both groups but did not differ between them. Quality of life and perceived stress also improved more with MBSR. The findings suggest MBSR may help address co-occurring mental health symptoms and improve well-being in this population.
Mindfulness
September 1, 2025
Nuria V. Aguerre, Elena Miró, M. Pilar Martínez et al.
Dispositional mindfulness, especially a non-judgmental attitude toward inner experience, predicts lower pain scores by reducing pain catastrophizing, particularly feelings of helplessness. This relationship held in both a general population sample (n = 1075) and a chronic pain sample (n = 467), replicating and extending a prior model by Wilson et al. (2023). The findings suggest that targeting non-judgment and helplessness could inform interventions for chronic pain management.
Mindfulness
July 1, 2025
Jonathan Hamilton, Kate Brennan, Daniel Brown et al.
A blended individual mindfulness-based intervention, combining brief therapist support with patient-led practice, shows promise for reducing depression symptoms. Of 39 patients with persistent depression who started the 12-week program, 24 completed it. Completers engaged in 89% of formal practices and showed large reductions in symptoms, with 75% moving below the clinical threshold. Patients found the approach acceptable but requested longer therapist sessions. The intervention may help make mindfulness-based treatments more accessible and sustainable for people with depression.
Mindfulness
June 3, 2025
Catherine I. Andreu, Joana Vidal, Ylenia D’elia et al.
A 15-minute guided Tonglen meditation, a Tibetan Buddhist practice of taking in others' suffering and sending them well-being, increased heart rate variability, compassion state, and positive affective responses to suffering in healthcare workers compared to listening to a story. This is the first evidence of the acute effectiveness of Tonglen in this population, suggesting it may help those experiencing empathic distress and burnout.
Mindfulness
June 1, 2025
Diane Joss
This commentary proposes a multi-level, multi-sectoral framework for using mindfulness-based interventions to prevent childhood maltreatment, build resilience, and restore health in adults with adverse childhood experiences. It reviews emerging research and theoretical foundations explaining why mindfulness-based interventions may be especially beneficial for childhood maltreatment survivors. The authors argue that mindfulness meditation can serve as a public health tool across prevention and recovery efforts, addressing trauma at individual, community, and systemic levels.
Mindfulness
May 1, 2025
Michael Bowen, Michael Beam
A representative survey of 2000 US adults mapped onto the Sussex Mindfulness Meditation (SuMMed) model of habit formation. Most adults (69.7%) were in the Pre-Intention stage, 19.1% in Preparation, 2.3% in Action, and 9.0% in Maintenance. Among those preparing to meditate, 34.5% planned to do so within the next week, but only 21.9% intended to start a regular practice within the next month. People with less established meditation practices were more likely to plan using meditation apps than were experienced meditators. The findings suggest the SuMMed model is useful for understanding meditation habits, with a proposed refinement to the Preparation stage to distinguish trying meditation from committing to a regular practice.
Mindfulness
March 1, 2025
Doug Oman
The modern mindfulness movement and public health share many approaches, yet mindfulness is largely absent from global and public health practice. This paper reviews existing and potential relationships between mindfulness and public health, examining 14 dimensions of tension or alignment. The authors find that the mindfulness field lags in multi-level interventions, cultural and religious adaptations, and epidemiologic foundations. They argue that full integration of mindfulness into public health requires further research and innovation, particularly in cultural and religious adaptation, multi-level interventions, and epidemiologic underpinnings.
Mindfulness
February 1, 2025
Rut García-Lorenzo, Miguel Ángel Carbonero-Martín, Lorena Valdivieso-León et al.
A mindfulness-based intervention for primary school students aged 6 to 12 in Spain reduced their sensitivity to anxiety. In a quasi-experimental design with 352 students (266 in the experimental group, 86 in the control group), those who completed the program showed a significant decrease in anxiety sensitivity compared to the control group, with an effect size close to medium (Cohen's d = 0.43). The control group also showed significant pre-to-post differences. The findings confirm the program's efficacy in helping children manage anxiety sensitivity.
Mindfulness
January 1, 2025
Abigail Powers, Rebecca Lipschutz, Emma C Lathan et al.
An 8-week Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) intervention adapted for Black trauma-exposed adults with PTSD and depression increased two facets of trait mindfulness—observing and nonreactivity—compared to a waitlist control group. Emotion dysregulation did not change. The study involved 80 participants, mostly women, and measured mindfulness with the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire and emotion dysregulation with the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale at baseline, post-treatment, and one-month follow-up. The findings suggest MBCT may improve specific mindfulness skills in this population, but further research is needed to clarify mechanisms.
Mindfulness
January 1, 2025
Ryad Chems-Maarif, Kate Cavanagh, Ruth A. Baer et al.
A narrative review of traditional Buddhist and contemporary psychological definitions of mindfulness finds that Buddhist definitions emphasize memory, present-centered awareness, and ethicality, while psychological definitions converge on present-centered awareness, bare attention, and attitudes of acceptance and non-judgment. The authors conclude that conceptual commonality across both traditions is lacking, making a single comprehensive definition difficult. For psychological science, they propose a refined definition: “present-centered awareness of and bare attention to body sensations, affective valence, cognitive and emotional phenomena, and the external environment with an allowing and equanimous attitude.” This definition incorporates four scopes of mindfulness and highlights allowing and equanimity as key qualities.
Mindfulness
January 1, 2025
Jayme C Banks, Sepideh Hariri, Kestutis Kveraga et al.
Long-term meditators had a brain age index 5.9 years younger than their chronological age, compared to a difference of -0.24 years in healthy controls and 10.5 years older in people with dementia. The study used overnight electroencephalography to estimate brain age from sleep brain activity in 34 meditators attending a retreat, alongside several comparison groups. The results suggest that advanced meditation may be associated with enhanced brain health and slower brain aging.
Mindfulness
December 1, 2024
Math Janssen, Yvonne Heerkens, Beatrice Heijden et al.
Dutch secondary vocational schoolteachers who took a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training reported reduced stress and increased inner calmness, along with gains in being present, taking distance, recognizing and changing dysfunctional patterns, awareness, concentration, acceptance, non-judgment, communication, and compassion toward themselves and others. These experiences were reported immediately after the training and up to 9 months later. Prior to training, teachers expected stress relief and improved personal competencies. The study suggests MBSR can foster both mental health improvements and prosocial competencies in teachers over the short and long term.
Mindfulness
December 1, 2024
Rachel M Fenning, Cameron L Neece, Catherine M Sanner et al.
A randomized controlled trial tested Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) against psychoeducational support (PE) for reducing stress in diverse, underserved parents of autistic preschoolers. Both interventions showed strong feasibility, acceptability, and utility. Efficacy was comparable across in-person and virtual modalities, but attendance was significantly better for virtual groups. Parents in virtual MBSR reported less difficulty completing homework and using skills in daily life than those in in-person MBSR. The findings suggest that telehealth can expand access to stress-reduction interventions for this population.
Mindfulness
November 1, 2024
Dh. Karunavira
A group of Indian Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) trainee teachers from poor, ex-Dalit communities who converted to Buddhism in the mid-1950s asked how MBSR meditation differs from the meditation they do as Buddhists. This paper uses the Buddhist Wheel of Life to argue that MBSR can be seen as a contemporary skilful means (upaya-kaushalya) that alleviates suffering without requiring religious affiliation. It positions MBSR within Buddhist compassion principles, addressing concerns that mindfulness-based interventions dilute the Buddha’s teachings. The paper concludes that MBSR extends compassion to those who might not seek traditional religious teachings, bridging secular and spiritual practices.
Mindfulness
October 1, 2024
Miri Tal-Saban, Sigal Biran, Haya Fogel-Grinvald et al.
A mandatory mindfulness course for first-year occupational therapy students was associated with improvements in mindfulness skills and self-compassion. Among 106 students, post-course scores on the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills and the Self-Compassion Scale were significantly higher than pre-course scores for total mindfulness, the Observing and Accepting subscales, and total self-compassion and most of its components. The findings suggest that integrating mindfulness training into health professions curricula may support students' personal and professional development and help them cope with academic pressures.
Mindfulness
September 1, 2024
Johannes A. Karl, Samantha K. Stanley
Mindfulness may reduce climate anxiety but also lower motivation for pro-environmental action. A survey of 287 Australians found that certain mindfulness facets—acting with awareness, nonreactive decentering, and an accepting nonjudgmental attitude—were linked to lower climate anxiety. However, this reduction in anxiety indirectly related to less engagement in collective pro-environmental behavior. In contrast, greater awareness of internal and external experiences was associated with higher climate anxiety and, through anticipatory solastalgia (distress about future environmental losses), with greater pro-environmental action. The findings suggest that mindfulness-based emotion regulation could dampen the negative affect that drives environmental activism, while heightened awareness may boost it.
Mindfulness
July 1, 2024
Jelle Lubbers, Philip Spinhoven, Mira B. Cladder-Micus et al.
After Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), many patients with major depressive disorder shift toward healthier mindfulness profiles, and those who change profiles show greater improvement in mental health than those who do not. Among 500 patients, four mindfulness profiles were identified: Very low mindfulness, Non-judgmentally aware, Judgmentally observing, and High mindfulness. Of 168 patients initially in the Very low mindfulness profile, 71 moved to Non-judgmentally aware and 30 to High mindfulness. Of 129 in Non-judgmentally aware, 49 moved to High mindfulness; of 141 in Judgmentally observing, 37 moved to High mindfulness. All 61 patients already in High mindfulness remained there. Profile change was linked to above-average improvement in depressive symptoms, functional impairment, worry, and self-compassion, while no change (except staying in High mindfulness) was linked to below-average improvement.
Mindfulness
June 18, 2024
Alejandro Interian, Rachael B Miller, Chintan V Dave et al.
Among adults at high risk of suicide who took part in a mindfulness-based therapy, 18% experienced distress, dysregulation, or agitation during practice, most often anxiety or hallucinations. Those who had such difficulties showed some diagnostic differences at baseline but were not at significantly greater risk of a suicidal event or psychiatric hospitalization over a 12-month follow-up. No suicide attempts occurred among the 9 participants who experienced mindfulness difficulty, compared to 5 attempts among those who did not. The findings suggest that although difficulties during mindfulness are common, they do not increase the risk of serious clinical outcomes in this high-risk population.
Mindfulness
May 1, 2024
Malcolm Wright, Julieta Galante, J. S. Corneille et al.
About 45% of people from three international communities—UK online panelists, US-based MTurk workers, and readers of a rationalist blog—report having had at least one sudden unusual mental or somatic experience, not caused by drugs, that is often interpreted as spiritual or mystical. The most common experiences include derealization (17%), unitive experiences (15%), and ecstatic thrills (15%). Following such experiences, respondents reported a mix of positive and negative well-being outcomes; 13% reported moderate or greater suffering and 1.1% reported life-threatening suffering. Of those who suffered, 63% did not seek help. These emergent phenomena appear widespread and can lead to both benefits and harms that are not adequately addressed by clinical practice.
Mindfulness
May 1, 2024
Nihan Türkoğlu, Esin Kavuran
An online Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program reduced stress and improved quality of life for family caregivers of cancer patients. In a randomized controlled trial with 104 caregivers, those who completed the 8-week program showed statistically significant reductions in stress scores and improvements in quality of life scores at the end of the program and four weeks later, while the control group showed no significant changes over time.