The relationship between mindfulness and objective measures of body awareness: A meta-analysis
Isaac N Treves, Lawrence Y. Tello, Richard J. Davidson, Simon B. Goldberg
Scientific Reports November 22, 2019 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-53978-6 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Meta-analysis Randomized Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 879 |
| Population | Adults |
| Intervention | mindfulness meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Psycinfo Meta-analysis Operationalization Trait Psychological intervention Clinical psychology Randomized controlled trial Medline |
| Citations | 118 |
| Key findings | A small positive relationship was found between mindfulness and body awareness accuracy (g = 0.21), with only randomized controlled trials showing a significant effect. |
Abstract
Abstract Although awareness of bodily sensations is a common mindfulness meditation technique, studies assessing the relationship between mindfulness and body awareness have provided mixed results. The current study sought to meta-analytically examine the relationship between mindfulness operationalized as a dispositional trait or a construct trained through short- (i.e., randomized controlled trials [RCTs]) or long-term mindfulness meditation practice with objective measures of body awareness accuracy. PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and Scopus were searched. Studies were eligible if they reported the association between mindfulness and body awareness, were published in English, and included adults. Across 15 studies (17 independent samples), a small effect was found linking mindfulness with greater body awareness accuracy ( g = 0.21 [0.08, 0.34], N = 879). When separated by study design, only RCTs continued to show a significant relationship ( g = 0.20, [0.02, 0.38], k = 7, n = 505). Heterogeneity of effects was low ( I 2 < 25%), although with wide confidence intervals. Effects were not moderated by study quality. Low fail-safe N estimates reduce confidence in the observed effects. Results suggest a small but potentially detectable relationship between mindfulness and body awareness accuracy. Future investigations could examine individual differences in body awareness as a mechanism within mindfulness interventions.