Who Sticks with Meditation? Rates and Predictors of Persistence in a Population-based Sample in the USA.
Sin U Lam, Kevin M. Riordan, Otto Simonsson, Richard J. Davidson, Simon B. Goldberg
Mindfulness 2023 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-022-02061-9 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cross-sectional survey Preregistered Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 953 |
| Population | U.S. general population adults |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Attrition Health behavior Meditation practice patterns Persistence Population-based sampling |
| Key findings | Factors positively associated with meditation persistence included having spoken with a meditation teacher, higher perceived effectiveness, positive social norms, lower barriers, higher conscientiousness, wellbeing growth mindset, and retreat experience; first exposure through technology and mental health motivation were negatively associated. |
Abstract
Despite the well-documented psychological benefits of meditation practice, limited research has examined factors associated with meditation practice persistence. Like other health behaviors (e.g., exercise), non-persistence may undermine the effectiveness of meditation. We examined rates and correlates of meditation persistence using a population-based sample (n = 953) in the United States. Persistence was operationalized in two ways: number of lifetime practice sessions (i.e., lifetime persistence) and current practice frequency (i.e., current persistence). Consistent with the National Health Interview Survey, we defined meditation as mindfulness meditation, mantra meditation, and spiritual meditation. We examined factors related to the Reasoned Action Approach (RAA), a theory that has been used to explain adherence to health behaviors. Almost half of the sample (49.3%) indicated lifetime exposure to meditation and a third (35.0%) indicated practice in the past year. Factors positively associated with persistence (lifetime and/or current) included having spoken with a meditation teacher, higher perceived effectiveness of meditation, higher meditation-positive subjective norms, lower perceived barriers, higher conscientiousness, higher wellbeing growth mindset, and retreat experience. Factors negatively associated with persistence included first exposure through various forms of technology and having a mental health motivation for practice. First exposure through a smartphone app and first exposure through friends and family were not associated with lifetime or current persistence. Findings were unchanged after controlling for demographics and applying a false discovery rate p-value adjustment. These findings provide insights into factors that may promote persistence with meditation which can guide the delivery of meditation training. This study was preregistered at the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/4h86s).
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Experienced meditators and nonmeditating comparison groups | 2008 | Cross-sectional study | |
| Neural Correlates of Dispositional Mindfulness During Affect Labeling Adult participants | 2007 | Observational cross-sectional | n = 27 |
| Assessing mindfulness in children and adolescents: Development and validation of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM). School-aged children and adolescents | 2011 | Cross-sectional validation study | n = 1,413 |
| Mindfulness and self-compassion as predictors of psychological wellbeing in long-term meditators and matched nonmeditators Experienced meditators and demographically matched nonmeditators | 2012 | Cross-sectional study | n = 152 |
| Mechanisms of Action in the Inverse Relationship Between Mindfulness and Psychological Distress Undergraduates | 2008 | Cross-sectional, correlational |
Citations in the library
Cited by 19
- Situating Meditation Apps Within the Ecosystem of Meditation Practice: Population-Based Survey Study. JMIR Mental Health April 28, 2023
- Longitudinal associations between psychedelic use and meditation practices in the United States and the United Kingdom. Psychological Medicine April 1, 2024
- The meditation app revolution. American Psychologist August 7, 2025
- The roles of readiness and dosage in predicting outcomes of a mindful sport performance enhancement intervention with U.S. college student-athletes. Psychology of Sport And Exercise 2024
- Evaluating Theory-Driven Messaging to Overcome the Barriers to Meditation: Large-Scale Digital Field Experiment. JMIR Mental Health July 7, 2025
and 14 more in the library
Cites 20
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- Intensive meditation training improves perceptual discrimination and sustained attention. Psychological Science June 1, 2010
- Home practice in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction: A systematic review and meta-analysis of participants' mindfulness practice and its association with outcomes Behaviour Research and Therapy May 10, 2017
- 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
- The Impact of an Innovative Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program on the Health and Well-Being of Nurses Employed in a Corporate Setting Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health April 1, 2013
and 15 more in the library