A common factors perspective on mindfulness-based interventions.
Nature Reviews Psychology August 1, 2022 DOI: 10.1038/s44159-022-00090-8 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that MBI research has focused heavily on mindfulness-specific mechanisms while relatively little empirical work has directly investigated non-specific or common factors that may contribute to MBI efficacy. Proposes that situating MBIs within the broader psychotherapy literature and emphasizing commonalities with other treatments could help guide future research. |
Abstract
Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have entered mainstream Western culture in the past four decades. There are now dozens of MBIs with varying degrees of empirical support and a variety of mindfulness-specific psychological mechanisms have been proposed to account for the beneficial effects of MBIs. Although it has long been acknowledged that non-specific or common factors might contribute to MBI efficacy, relatively little empirical work has directly investigated these aspects. In this Perspective, I suggest that situating MBIs within the broader psychotherapy research literature and emphasizing the commonalities rather than differences between MBIs and other treatments might help guide future MBI research. To that end, I summarize the evidence for MBI efficacy and several MBI-specific psychological mechanisms, contextualize MBI findings within the broader psychotherapy literature from a common factors perspective, and propose suggestions for future research based on innovations and challenges occurring within psychotherapy research.