Brief mindfulness meditation can lower health threat avoidance and promote intentions but not behaviors in sleep and screening: experimental evidence.
Chaokang Luo, Nuoyan Lu, Chun-Qing Zhang
Psychology, Health & Medicine February 4, 2026 DOI: 10.1080/13548506.2026.2625436 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 416 |
| Population | Online participants |
| Intervention | Brief mindfulness meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Defensive response Health behaviors Health communication Health threats Mindfulness meditation |
| Key findings | Brief mindfulness meditation consistently reduced defensiveness and indirectly increased health intentions for sleep and screening, but did not significantly affect actual screening appointment behavior. |
Abstract
Because threatening health messages often trigger defensive responses rather than behavioral change, it is critical to identify effective approaches for reducing defensiveness toward health threats. Building on evidence of the efficacy of mindfulness, this study investigated whether brief mindfulness meditation can reduce individual defensiveness and promote health intentions and behaviors across two domains: sleep health and disease screening. Two online experiments (N1 = 248; N2 = 168) were conducted. Experiment 1 addressed sleep hygiene, while Experiment 2 utilized a fictional rare disease screening scenario. Fear, defensiveness, and intentions were measured in both experiments; Experiment 2 further assessed actual appointment-making behavior. Data were analyzed using ANOVA, ANCOVA, and mediation modeling via the PROCESS macro for SPSS. Brief mindfulness meditation consistently reduced defensiveness and indirectly increased intentions for sleep improvement and health screening in both experiments. In Experiment 2, a serial mediation effect was observed: mindfulness increased risk-feedback acceptance and reduced message defensiveness, which in turn bolstered screening intentions. However, the effect of mindfulness on actual screening appointment behavior was non-significant. Brief mindfulness meditation practice attenuates defensive responses to health threats and enhances behavioral intentions in both sleep and screening contexts. These findings suggest that brief mindfulness-based interventions can potentially amplify the impact of health communication by fostering a more receptive and less defensive processing of health-related information.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation Healthy employees in a work environment | 2003 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 41 |
| Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Recovered recurrently depressed patients | 2000 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 145 |
| Open hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources. Working adults | 2008 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 139 |
| Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation Undergraduate Chinese students | 2007 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 40 |
| Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: Replication and Exploration of Differential Relapse Prevention Effects. Recovered recurrently depressed patients | 2004 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 73 |
Citations in the library
Cites 14
- The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003
- Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2004
- Mechanisms of mindfulness Journal of Clinical Psychology December 29, 2005
- Mindfulness Interventions Annual Review of Psychology September 30, 2016
- A mind you can count on: validating breath counting as a behavioral measure of mindfulness Frontiers in Psychology October 24, 2014
and 9 more in the library