Mindfulness-based interventions are found to effectively reduce stress and improve mental health outcomes. Yet, it is not always clear how the mindfulness skills of attention and acceptance develop throughout the intervention. This knowledge gap is especially pertinent for novice meditators learning these skills for the first time, including whether some individuals are more prone to learning...
This study consolidated the association of mindfulness with perceived stress found across studies. A meta-analysis examined the relationship between mindfulness and perceived stress in 56 samples, which included a total of 24,494 participants. The weighted effect size of r(55) = -0.40, 95% CI [-0.36, 0-44], p = 0.0001, showed that greater mindfulness was associated with less perceived stress....
Stress and HealthMarch 5, 2026A. G. Little, Matthew J. Stainer, Alex Sandy MacQuarrie et al.1 citation
Paramedicine students experience disproportionately high rates of anxiety, depression, stress, and insomnia compared to the general population, placing them at risk of post-traumatic stress disorder and long-term psychological distress. Breathwork has emerged as a promising self-regulation intervention that may enhance resilience and wellbeing while reducing symptoms of mental illness. This...
Stress and HealthFebruary 2026Franziska Maier, Ina Luttenberger, Aljoscha Dreisoerner et al.
Chronic stress has well-documented adverse effects on physical and psychological health. Beyond contributing to the development of fatigue, its impact is intensified by social stressors such as loneliness, making the development of effective interventions crucial. Our randomised controlled trial therefore investigated whether a 14-day self-soothing touch (SST) intervention reduces stress,...
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...
Resilience helps mitigate the negative impacts of stress and promotes effective adaptation in adverse situations. This study investigated the impact of immediate and standardized mindfulness meditation (MM) on the resilience of college students, aiming to offer adaptable MM practices for different stress scenarios. The blood pressure (BP) and heart rate variability (HRV) of 48 participants were...
This study aimed to determine whether online-guided mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) in daily life improve autonomic nervous system function as measured by the pupillary light reflex (PLR) in healthy subjects. A total of 94 university students were randomly allocated to either an intervention group or a waitlist control group. Participants practiced single-session meditation in a...
Breathwork - deliberately altering the way one breathes - has gained growing attention as an emerging non-pharmacological intervention for mental health and stress regulation. A novel yet ancient method that remains largely underexplored in the literature, breathwork requires structured, evidence-based investigation to optimize its application. This review analyses the existing literature on...
Yoga Nidra meditation has been increasingly examined in recent years for its potential to enhance psychological well-being. However, few studies have examined its biological effects-such as diurnal cortisol patterns particularly in larger samples using pre-post designs. The primary objective of this randomised controlled trial was to examine both the psychological (stress, anxiety, depression,...
The rise in mental health conditions and stress has attracted global attention. Non-pharmacological and traditional approaches like meditative practices are showing promising results. Therefore, the aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of Heartfulness meditation on stress biomarkers, burnout, and well-being. A double-arm prospective randomized controlled study was carried out on 100...
Stress and HealthFebruary 1, 2025Carole Daniel, Clémence Leyrat, Elodie Gentina et al.
Quality sleep is among the most important determinants of psychological and physical well-being. Insufficient sleep quality and quantity directly affect individuals; in turn, they indirectly affect the productivity, viability and safety of workplaces. Sleep issues also represent a global health concern for people and workplaces around the world. In addition to pharmaceutical aids, effective and...
Stress and HealthOctober 1, 2024Bárbara Monteiro, Ana Galhardo, Hugo Senra et al.1 citation
The COVID-19 pandemic generated distinct mental health challenges, characterised by stress and anxiety due to its unpredictable duration and continuous threat. This study examined the role of meditation practice on anxiety symptoms and perceived stress, considering co-variables such as self-compassion, acceptance, awareness, brooding, lockdown duration, and sociodemographic characteristics. The...
This systematic review synthesises the evidence for the effectiveness of a single session of yoga or its components including meditation and breathing techniques in reducing acute stress reactivity in healthy adults. Following the PRISMA guidelines, we searched Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane, CINAHL, and PsycINFO on 30th July 2023 for randomised controlled or crossover trials of yoga components and...
Loving-kindness and compassion meditation (LKCM) have been well applied among employees to improve their health and well-being. Existing studies on LKCM have also provided supportive evidence of its benefits and effectiveness under organizational contexts. The current meta-analytical study aimed to systematically summarise the effects of LKCM in the workplace and to outline directions for...
The Nightmare Disorder Index Questionnaire (NDI) was developed to measure the impact of nightmares. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of NDI among Chinese adolescents. This study investigated the validity and internal consistency of the Nightmare Disorder Index Chinese (NDI-CV) among 6014 Chinese adolescents who completed the NDI-CV, Nightmare Distress...
Stress and HealthAugust 2023Michelle M Hospital, Rachel D Clarke, Staci Leon Morris et al.
Latinx youth with mental health disorders have worse outcomes when compared to their White (non-Hispanic) counterparts. Latinx youth also have less access to and lower utilization of mental health services. Emerging research supports the psychological and physical benefits of engaging in yoga and yoga may function as a complimentary treatment option for patients with mental health challenges....
Abstract: This multi‐method study examined perspectives on mindfulness and coping strategies used by trauma‐exposed women experiencing homelessness (WEH), residing in a state‐funded residential drug treatment site in Southern California (United States). Questionnaires and in‐depth focus group interviews were utilised to examine traumatic experiences over the lifespan, probable‐posttraumatic...
As one of the most widely used mindfulness-based psychotherapeutic intervention techniques, mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) has emerged as an auxiliary or alternative technique for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study conducted a meta-analysis of the effect of MBSR on the changes in symptoms in PTSD patients. The final search was conducted on December 10,...
Nurses may experience frequent nightmares due to stressful work environments. Nightmares may also exacerbate stress among nurses, although this has yet to be tested empirically. We examined daily bidirectional associations between stress severity and nightmares, and moderation by posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. 392 nurses (92% female; 78% White) completed 14 days of sleep diaries...
Mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) have been shown to be effective in increasing empathy in health professionals. Yet, more research is needed to analyse the specific influence of mindfulness exercises on biological variables involved in empathy, such as the biological system of oxytocin activity. In this study, we analyse the effects of a brief mindfulness session on positive and negative...
Mindfulness, meditation, and other practices that form contemplative interventions are increasingly offered in workplaces to support employee mental health. Studies have reported benefits across various populations, yet researchers have expressed concerns that adoption of such interventions has outpaced scientific evidence. We reappraise the extant literature by meta-analytically testing the...
The purpose of this study was to characterize sympathetic activity by using waking salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) concentrations in a group of long-term meditation instructors and to examine the association between meditation (depth, dose and duration) and the waking alpha-amylase response. Salivary alpha-amylase samples were collected (immediately upon waking and at 15-min, 30-min and 45-min...
Stress and HealthDecember 1, 2015Roberta A Szekeres, Eleanor H Wertheim
Residential Vipassana meditation courses, which teach mindfulness skills, are widely available globally but under-evaluated. This study examined effects of a standardized, community-based Vipassana course, on subjective stress, well-being, self-kindness and trait mindfulness in a community sample. Participants completed self-report measures of these variables at pre-course and post-course (n =...
This article reports a randomized controlled trial to investigate whether mindfulness training can successfully improve inner peace in participants with no known mental disorder. Fifty-seven participants were randomized to either mindfulness training (n = 29) or wait-list control (n = 28). The experience sampling method was used to measure the fleeting momentary experience of inner peace in...
This study employed functional magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) associated with the Mindfulness-based Art Therapy (MBAT) programme and correlate such changes to stress and anxiety in women with breast cancer. Eighteen breast cancer patients were randomized to the MBAT or education control group. The patients received the diagnosis of breast cancer...