How Does Mindfulness Affect Cognition? A Reflection on Confounding Issues Surrounding Mindfulness-based Intervention Research Targeting Cognitive Outcomes
David R. Vago, Resh S Gupta, Sara W. Lazar
November 2, 2018 DOI: 10.31231/osf.io/86hrv (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Systematic review Randomized |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Affect linguistics Psychological intervention Clinical psychology Metacognition Intervention counseling Psychotherapist |
| Citations | 3 |
| Key findings | The review identifies confounding issues in the evidence for mindfulness-based interventions' effects on cognition, including unclear intervention definitions, assay limitations, and methodological quality concerns. |
Abstract
One potential pathway by which mindfulness-based meditation improves health outcomes is through changes in cognitive functioning. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) was conducted with a focus on assessing the state of the evidence for effects on cognitive processes and associated assays. Here, we comment on confounding issues surrounding the reporting of these and related findings, including 1) criteria that appropriately define an MBI; 2) limitations of assays used to measure cognition; and 3) methodological quality of MBI trials and reporting of findings. Because these issues contribute to potentially distorted interpretations of existing data, we offer constructive means for interpretation and recommendations for moving the field of mindfulness research forward regarding the effects on cognition.
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 |