Can a little bit of mindfulness do you good? A systematic review and meta-analyses of unguided mindfulness-based self-help interventions.
Heather B Taylor, Clara Strauss, Kate Cavanagh
Clinical Psychology Review August 30, 2021 DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2021.102078 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Systematic review and meta-analysis Randomized Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Mindfulness-based self-help (MBSH) |
| Topics | Anxiety Depression Meditation |
| Keywords | Humans Anxiety disorders Quality of life Stress Wellbeing Self-help |
| Key findings | Unguided mindfulness-based self-help produced small, statistically significant post-intervention improvements in depression, mindfulness, anxiety, stress, and wellbeing/quality of life across 83 randomized trials. Effects on mindfulness, stress, and wellbeing/quality of life persisted at follow-up, while depression and anxiety effects did not. The authors report larger effects versus inactive than active controls and for non-digital than digital interventions. |
Abstract
Over the last decade there has been an explosion of interest in mindfulness-based self-help (MBSH) interventions. While widely available and extensively promoted, there is little consensus on their impact in public health or healthcare contexts. We present a systematic review and meta-analyses of 83 randomized controlled trials, comparing unguided MBSH to control conditions on outcomes of depression, mindfulness, anxiety, stress and/or wellbeing/ quality of life. A random effects model was used to compute post-intervention, between-groups effect sizes for each outcome. MBSH demonstrated small, statistically significant effects at post-interventions for outcomes of depression (g = -0.23), mindfulness (g = 0.37) anxiety (g = -0.25), stress (g = -0.41) and wellbeing/ quality of life (g = 0.34). Significant effects were retained at follow-up for mindfulness, stress and wellbeing/ quality of life but not for depression or anxiety. Planned moderator analyses demonstrated significantly larger effects of MBSH when compared to inactive, versus active-control conditions on all outcomes except wellbeing/ quality of life, and non-digital MBSH interventions demonstrated significantly greater effects on depression, mindfulness and wellbeing/ quality of life outcomes than digitally-delivered MBSH. When studies that utilised samples selected for mental and physical health-related difficulties were respectively compared to studies that utilised unselected samples, no significant moderation effects were observed. In sum, these findings provide evidence for the effectiveness of unguided MBSH in public health settings and the practical, access-related implications of this are discussed.
Comparable studies
Other systematic reviews and meta-analyses on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being Diverse adult clinical populations | 2014 | Meta-analysis | n = 3,515 |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Stress Management in Healthy People: A Review and Meta-Analysis Healthy subjects | 2009 | Systematic review and meta-analysis | |
| The psychological effects of meditation: A meta-analysis. Nonclinical groups of adult meditators | 2012 | Meta-analysis | n = 163 |
| Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Prevention of Depressive Relapse Adults with recurrent depression in full or partial remission | 2016 | Meta-analysis of individual patient data from randomized controlled trials | n = 1,258 |
| Mindfulness‐Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness‐Based Cognitive Therapy – a systematic review of randomized controlled trials | 2011 | Systematic review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 38
- An overview of mindfulness theories applied to tourism: systematic review update and bibliometric analysis Quality & Quantity September 22, 2023
- A Social Media-Based Mindfulness Psycho-Behavioral Intervention (MCARE) for Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome: Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research February 20, 2024
- Supported Mindfulness-Based Self-Help Intervention as an Adjunctive Treatment for Rapid Symptom Change in Emotional Disorders: A Practice-Oriented Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 2025
- Mindfulness Interventions and Surveys as Tools for Positive Emotional Regulation During COVID-19: A Scoping Review Mindfulness October 19, 2023
- The role of mindful acceptance and lucid dreaming in nightmare frequency and distress. Scientific Reports September 21, 2022
and 33 more in the library
Cites 35
- Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 2000
- Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being JAMA Internal Medicine January 6, 2014
- Mindfulness Interventions Annual Review of Psychology September 30, 2016
- Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression August 21, 2006
- Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Prevention of Depressive Relapse JAMA Psychiatry April 28, 2016
and 30 more in the library