Understanding the Implementation of Informal Meditation Practice in a Smartphone-Based Intervention: A Qualitative Analysis

Objectives: Informal practice (i.e., brief meditation practices incorporated spontaneously into daily activities) may be important for increasing the efficacy and accessibility of meditation-based interventions (MedBIs). However, the facilitators and barriers to engaging in informal practice are largely unknown. The current study aimed to investigate factors associated with the implementation of informal practice.

Method: Participants were drawn from a randomized trial testing the effects of 5- versus 15-min daily meditation practice in a 4-week smartphone-delivered meditation training. Qualitative interviews on informal practice were conducted with 17 participants (mean age: 37.12 years; 82.35% female; 52.94% non-Latinx White) following the intervention. Given that prior knowledge on this topic is limited, inductive content analysis was utilized to characterize participants’ experiences in relation to implementing informal practice.

Results: Four overarching categories emerged from the data, namely (a) reported benefits of informal practice, (b) integration of informal practice, (c) perceived barriers to informal practice, and (d) recommended facilitators of informal practice.

Conclusion: This study underscores the importance of addressing barriers and facilitators (e.g., providing personalized app features, reminders, social support, and repeating intervention content) to encourage individuals’ informal practice. Findings provide suggestions for methods to increase engagement in informal practice, which may, in turn, increase the accessibility and effectiveness of MedBIs. Preregistration: The larger trial from which the qualitative interview participants were drawn was preregistered through clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05229406) and the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/fszvj/?view_only=039b14ccbf8848bd99808c983070b635). The qualitative analyses reported here were not preregistered.