Disconnecting to recover: how digital detox tourism shapes attention restoration and psychological well-being through perceived environmental restorativeness and mindfulness
Wenting Zhang
Frontiers in Psychology September 3, 2026 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1919406 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Two-group quasi-experiment with three-wave longitudinal and dose-response design Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 500 |
| Population | Participants in a digital detox tourism setting |
| Intervention | Digital detox tourism |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Detox exposure significantly increased perceived environmental restorativeness, which enhanced subjective attention, life satisfaction, and positive affect through state mindfulness, with all three serial mediation paths confirmed by bootstrapping. The authors report a mechanistic asymmetry: life satisfaction was driven by both the direct effect of restorativeness and its indirect effect through mindfulness, whereas positive affect depended almost entirely on mindfulness. |
Abstract
Digital detox tourism has become increasingly popular, yet empirical research on its restorative mechanisms remains limited. Drawing on attention restoration theory and the mindfulness–well-being framework, this study used a two-group quasi-experiment combined with a three-wave longitudinal and dose–response design ( N = 500). Propensity score weighting was applied to a composite path analysis to adjust for baseline differences arising from self-selection. The study examined how digital detox tourism affects attention restoration and subjective well-being through perceived environmental restorativeness and state mindfulness. Latent variable structural equation modeling showed that detox exposure significantly increased perceived restorativeness, which in turn enhanced subjective attention, life satisfaction, and positive affect through mindfulness; all three serial mediation paths were confirmed by bootstrapping, and the association between disconnection intensity and restorative appraisal held across the sample while it did not hold within the detox condition alone. The study further revealed a mechanistic asymmetry between cognitive and affective well-being, in that life satisfaction was driven both by the direct effect of restorativeness and by its indirect effect through mindfulness, whereas positive affect depended almost entirely on mindfulness. This study carries attention restoration theory into a setting of dual digital–physical disconnection and offers a refined test of the “mainly through mindfulness” proposition within the bounds of a single intervention context.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cites 2
- Intervention-induced changes in state mindfulness do not predict trait changes in mindfulness, self-compassion, or perceived stress. Scientific Reports November 21, 2025
- Free Your Mind and Mental Health and Wellbeing Will Follow: Evidence from Across-Day Within-Person Mediation in an Eight-Week Mindfulness RCT Mindfulness March 26, 2026