Do yoga and meditation moderate the relationship between negative life events and depressive symptoms? Analysis of a national cross-sectional survey of Australian women.
Romy Lauche, Dennis Anheyer, Lisa A Uebelacker, David Sibbritt, Jon Adams, Holger Cramer
Frontiers in Psychology 2023 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1218976 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional analysis of a longitudinal cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 7,186 |
| Population | Australian women aged 36-43 years |
| Intervention | yoga/meditation |
| Topics | Depression Meditation |
| Keywords | Coping Negative life events Stress Yoga |
| Key findings | Yoga/meditation practice moderated the direct association between negative life events and depressive symptoms, dampening the influence of negative life events on depression. |
Abstract
This study aims to examine the role of yoga/meditation in the relationship between negative life events, stress and depression. The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH) surveyed 7,186 women aged 36-43 years (mean age 39.2 years; 57.2% university degree) in 2015. Mediation and moderation analyses were conducted to examine whether yoga/meditation practice moderated those relationships. Yoga/meditation was practiced by 27.5% of participants, 33.2% reported negative life events in the past 12 months, and 24% had clinical depression. Perceived stress partially mediated the association between negative life events and depressive symptoms (B = 6.28; 95%CI 5.65; 6.92). Social support (B = -0.38; 95%CI -0.54; -0.23) and optimism (B = -0.25;95%CI -0.31; -0.18) moderated the association between stress and depressive symptoms. Yoga/meditation practice moderated the direct association between negative life events and depressive symptoms (B = -0.92; 95%CI -1.67; -0.18). Yoga/meditation use was a significant moderator of the relationship between negative life events and depression. Yoga/mediation use did not act via reducing perceived stress, but instead was found to dampen the influence of negative life events on depression directly. More research on how yoga has an impact on depression is warranted.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Experienced meditators and nonmeditating comparison groups | 2008 | Cross-sectional study | |
| Neural Correlates of Dispositional Mindfulness During Affect Labeling Adult participants | 2007 | Observational cross-sectional | n = 27 |
| Assessing mindfulness in children and adolescents: Development and validation of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM). School-aged children and adolescents | 2011 | Cross-sectional validation study | n = 1,413 |
| Mindfulness and self-compassion as predictors of psychological wellbeing in long-term meditators and matched nonmeditators Experienced meditators and demographically matched nonmeditators | 2012 | Cross-sectional study | n = 152 |
| Mechanisms of Action in the Inverse Relationship Between Mindfulness and Psychological Distress Undergraduates | 2008 | Cross-sectional, correlational |
Citations in the library
Cites 7
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Stress Management in Healthy People: A Review and Meta-Analysis The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine May 1, 2009
- Exploring how different types of yoga change psychological resources and emotional well-being across a single session. Complementary Therapies in Medicine March 1, 2020
- Perceptions of hatha yoga amongst persistently depressed individuals enrolled in a trial of yoga for depression. Complementary Therapies in Medicine June 27, 2017
- Prevalence, patterns, and predictors of meditation use among US adults: A nationally representative survey. Scientific Reports November 10, 2016
- A systematic review of mechanisms of change in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in the treatment of recurrent major depressive disorder. Clinical Psychology Review April 1, 2015
and 2 more in the library