Underestimating harm in mindfulness-based stress reduction
Nicholas T. van Dam, Julieta Galante
Psychological Medicine December 7, 2020 DOI: 10.1017/s003329172000447x (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Commentary or critique Randomized Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Content measure theory Harm reduction Mindfulness-based stress reduction Action physics Stress linguistics Applied psychology Clinical psychology Public health Nursing |
| Citations | 19 |
| Key points | Argues that the methods used in a recent study on harm following MBSR have potentially serious limitations that undermine confidence in the authors' conclusions. |
Abstract
In a recent study of harm following the completion of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) programs, the authors used a large observational dataset (n = 2155), alongside the active arm (n = 156) and wait-list arm (n = 118) of several amalgamated randomized controlled trials The authors interpret their results as 'strong evidence that MBSR is no more harmful than no treatment' (p. 8). While seemingly conclusive, we would like to point out some potentially serious limitations to the methods used that undermine confidence in the authors' conclusions.