The Role of Mindfulness in Adolescent Mental Health: A Review of Application Potential and Practical Limitations
Tianle Fu
Transactions on Social Science Education and Humanities Research August 21, 2025 DOI: 10.62051/sgm0kk32 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Systematic review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Adolescents |
| Interventions | Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Argues that mindfulness-based interventions show potential for adolescent stress, emotion regulation, and well-being, but that current applications carry risks, commercialization can reduce mindfulness to "McMindfulness," and prior research has methodological flaws. Proposes shifting toward "precision intervention," "professional empowerment," and "humanistic integration," with more rigorous long-term and cross-cultural research. |
Abstract
Mindfulness is one of the growing techniques for promoting mental health and reducing stress among adolescents. This paper presents a systematic review of the effects of various mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs), including mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), on the stress, emotion regulation, and well-being of adolescents. It reviews the innovative applications and potential of digital mindfulness interventions from both physiological and psychological perspectives, including mobile apps and virtual reality (VR). The paper critically assesses the potential risks of current applications of mindfulness, the loss of its essence through commercialization ("McMindfulness"), and methodological flaws in previous research. The review indicates that to optimize the potential of mindfulness, future practices must change from the "one-size-fits-all" model to "precision intervention," from "fragmented training" to "professional empowerment," and keep up a critical balance from "technology worship" to "humanistic integration." Future research should focus on more rigorous long-term follow-up studies and cross-cultural comparisons so as to provide more effective, cautious, and sustainable support for the promotion of adolescent mental health.
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 |