Characteristics Associated With the Use of the Mindfulness Meditation App Headspace in a Large Public Health Deployment: Cross-Sectional Survey Study
Judith Borghouts, Elizabeth V Eikey, Cinthia De Leon, Stephen M Schueller, Margaret Schneider, Nicole A Stadnick, Kai Zheng, Dana B Mukamel, Dara H Sorkin
JMIR Formative Research August 22, 2025 DOI: 10.2196/73457 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 2,725 |
| Population | Community members who received free access to Headspace |
| Intervention | Headspace |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Current Headspace users were more likely to experience mental health challenges and use other digital mental health resources compared to non-users. The most common reason for discontinuing use was already using other strategies (34.7%). |
Abstract
BackgroundMindfulness-based apps can be an effective and accessible resource for mental health support. However, little is known about their use outside of research settings and what user characteristics relate to app use. ObjectiveThis study aimed to examine the characteristics of people who decided to use, not use, or stop using Headspace within the context of a large-scale public deployment, which offered the mindfulness meditation app Headspace as a free mental health resource to community members. MethodsNearly 100,000 community members received Headspace. All members (N=92,311) received an email inviting them to complete a voluntary and uncompensated survey. In total, 2725 participants completed the survey. The 20-minute survey asked about the use of Headspace, user experience, mental health problems, mental health stigma, and mental health use. Logistic regression models were used to examine relationships between predictors and nonuse, past use, or current use of Headspace. ResultsParticipants who were still using Headspace at the time of completing the survey (2076/2725, 76.18%) were more likely to experience mental health challenges and distress and make more use of other digital mental health resources (ie, online tools and connecting with people online) than people who were not using Headspace. In addition, current users of Headspace rated the app higher on user experience compared with past users. The most common reasons for abandoning Headspace were that people were already using other strategies to support their mental health (198/570, 34.7%), no longer needed Headspace (73/570, 12.8%), or did not think Headspace was useful (46/570, 8.1%). ConclusionsResults indicate that a person’s mental health challenges, a perceived need for support, and familiarity with digital resources were associated with continued use of Headspace. While the most common reason for not using Headspace was that people were already using other resources, it is important to consider the continuity of mental health support beyond these free programs for those who may not have easy access to other resources. We discuss potential implications of our findings for offering and using apps such as Headspace as a mental health resource, along with factors that influence engagement with this app.
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 2
- "I've Always Wanted to Find That Peace That Everyone Talks About with Mindfulness": The Development of an Asynchronous Mindfulness-Training Mobile Health Application for Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes. Comprehensive child and adolescent nursing May 6, 2026
- Mental health outcomes and use of online mental health tools following a public health deployment of the mindfulness meditation app headspace. Frontiers in Digital Health 2026
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and 3 more in the library