The Orientation on Being Program: A Prospective Pilot Study Comparing Its Results With the Standard Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program.
Cees Hoefnagels, Ivan Nyklíček
Psychological Reports July 20, 2026 DOI: 10.1177/00332941261463476 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Quasi-experimental prospective study Randomized Pilot study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 81 |
| Population | OB program participants (N = 27) and matched MBSR participants (N = 54) in the Netherlands |
| Intervention | Orientation on Being (OB) program |
| Duration | 12-month period, with assessments at 2 months and 12 months |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Psychological well-being Quasi-experiment Self-compassion Holistic intervention |
| Key findings | The Orientation on Being program was associated with significant improvements across 12 months in psychological well-being, self-esteem, self-compassion, introspective insight, and mindfulness skills, and decreases in depressive symptoms, anxiety, perceived stress, and rumination, all with large effect sizes. No differences appeared between OB and MBSR at 2 months, but a significant Time × Group interaction indicated the OB group continued to strengthen its gains between 2 and 12 months, which was not evident in the MBSR group. |
Abstract
Various programs focus on psychological well-being associated with spiritual and personal growth, but empirical studies assessing the evidence are scarce. The objective of this pilot is to examine the results of the first year of the extensive Orientation on Being (OB) program in the Netherlands. A prospective and quasi-experimental design was used in which changes in various indices of psychological functioning of OB participants (N = 27) were compared with those of matched participants of the standard 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program (MBSR; N = 54) across a 12-month period. Analyses showed that the OB program was associated with significant changes across the 12 months in all but one of the studied outcomes: increased psychological well-being, self-esteem, self-compassion, introspective insight, and mindfulness skills, and decreased depressive symptoms, anxiety, perceived stress and rumination (all with large effect sizes). Differences between the two programs were absent at 2 months, but a significant Time × Group interaction reflected that the OB group further strengthened its beneficial changes between 2 and 12 months, which were not evident in the MBSR group. These results indicate that the OB program was associated with persistent large benefits for psychological functioning. Future studies should employ larger samples in a randomized controlled trial.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cites 9
- The Empirical Status of Mindfulness-Based Interventions: A Systematic Review of 44 Meta-Analyses of Randomized Controlled Trials Perspectives on Psychological Science February 16, 2021
- Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for the treatment of current depressive symptoms: a meta-analysis Cognitive Behaviour Therapy February 8, 2019
- From Self-Esteem to Selflessness: An Evidence (Gap) Map of Self-Related Processes as Mechanisms of Mindfulness-Based Interventions Frontiers in Psychology November 22, 2021
- Hypnotic-like Aspects of the Tibetan Tradition of Dzogchen Meditation. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis 2020
- Mindfulness-based programmes for mental health promotion in adults in nonclinical settings: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. PLoS Medicine January 11, 2021
and 4 more in the library