Meditation for posttraumatic stress: Systematic review and meta-analysis.
Lara Hilton, Alicia Ruelaz Maher, Benjamin Colaiaco, Eric Apaydin, Melony E. Sorbero, Marika Booth, Roberta M Shanman, Susanne Hempel
Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice and Policy July 1, 2017 DOI: 10.1037/tra0000180 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Systematic review and meta-analysis Randomized Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 643 |
| Population | Adults diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) |
| Interventions | mindfulness-based stress reduction yoga mantram repetition program |
| Topics | Meditation PTSD |
| Key findings | Adjunctive meditation interventions improve PTSD and depression symptoms compared with control groups, but the evidence is of low and moderate quality. |
Abstract
We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis that synthesized evidence from randomized controlled trials of meditation interventions to provide estimates of their efficacy and safety in treating adults diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This review was based on an established protocol (PROSPERO: CRD42015025782) and is reported according to PRISMA guidelines. Outcomes of interest included PTSD symptoms, depression, anxiety, health-related quality of life, functional status, and adverse events. Meta-analyses were conducted using the Hartung-Knapp-Sidik-Jonkman method for random-effects models. Quality of evidence was assessed using the Grade of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. In total, 10 trials on meditation interventions for PTSD with 643 participants met inclusion criteria. Across interventions, adjunctive meditation interventions of mindfulness-based stress reduction, yoga, and the mantram repetition program improve PTSD and depression symptoms compared with control groups, but the findings are based on low and moderate quality of evidence. Effects were positive but not statistically significant for quality of life and anxiety, and no studies addressed functional status. The variety of meditation intervention types, the short follow-up times, and the quality of studies limited analyses. No adverse events were reported in the included studies; only half of the studies reported on safety. Meditation appears to be effective for PTSD and depression symptoms, but in order to increase confidence in findings, more high-quality studies are needed on meditation as adjunctive treatment with PTSD-diagnosed participant samples large enough to detect statistical differences in outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record
Comparable studies
Other systematic reviews and meta-analyses on PTSD, most cited first.
Citations in the library
Cited by 46
- Mindfulness-based interventions: an overall review British Medical Bulletin April 21, 2021
- Impact of Heartfulness meditation practice on anxiety, perceived stress, well-being, and telomere length. Frontiers in Psychology 2023
- Pain regulation during mindfulness meditation: Phenomenological fingerprints in novices and experts practitioners European Journal of Pain April 2, 2021
- Randomized controlled trials of mind-body interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder: a systematic review. Frontiers in Psychology 2023
- Management of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms by yoga: an overview. BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies July 21, 2023
and 41 more in the library
Cites 5
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