Mindfulness and mind wandering: The protective effects of brief meditation in anxious individuals.
Mengran Xu, Christine Purdon, Paul Seli, Daniel Smilek
Consciousness and Cognition May 2017 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2017.03.009 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Highly anxious undergraduate students |
| Interventions | Meditation mindfulness training |
| Topics | Anxiety Meditation |
| Keywords | Attentional focus Mind wandering Mindfulness meditation Present-moment awareness Sustained attention |
| Key findings | Mindfulness training may have protective effects on mind wandering only for anxious individuals: meditation prevented the increase of mind wandering over time and ameliorated performance disruption during off-task episodes, and appeared to promote a switch of attentional focus from the internal to the present-moment external world. |
Abstract
Mind wandering can be costly, especially when we are engaged in attentionally demanding tasks. Preliminary studies suggest that mindfulness can be a promising antidote for mind wandering, albeit the evidence is mixed. To better understand the exact impact of mindfulness on mind wandering, we had a sample of highly anxious undergraduate students complete a sustained-attention task during which off-task thoughts including mind wandering were assessed. Participants were randomly assigned to a meditation or control condition, after which the sustained-attention task was repeated. In general, our results indicate that mindfulness training may only have protective effects on mind wandering for anxious individuals. Meditation prevented the increase of mind wandering over time and ameliorated performance disruption during off-task episodes. In addition, we found that the meditation intervention appeared to promote a switch of attentional focus from the internal to present-moment external world, suggesting important implications for treating worrying in anxious populations.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation Healthy employees in a work environment | 2003 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 41 |
| Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Recovered recurrently depressed patients | 2000 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 145 |
| Open hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources. Working adults | 2008 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 139 |
| Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation Undergraduate Chinese students | 2007 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 40 |
| Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: Replication and Exploration of Differential Relapse Prevention Effects. Recovered recurrently depressed patients | 2004 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 73 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 20
- Reflections on Inner and Outer Silence and Consciousness Without Contents According to the Sphere Model of Consciousness Frontiers in Psychology August 12, 2020
- Volitional mental absorption in meditation: Toward a scientific understanding of advanced concentrative absorption meditation and the case of jhana. Heliyon May 14, 2024
- Psychological Outcomes and Mechanisms of Mindfulness-Based Training for Generalised Anxiety Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Current Psychology May 11, 2023
- Psychological and attentional outcomes following acute mindfulness induction among high anxiety individuals: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Psychiatric Research February 1, 2024
- The Effects of Mindfulness‐Based Intervention on Cognitive Functions in Tertiary Students: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis Applied Cognitive Psychology May 1, 2025
and 15 more in the library
Cites 11
- The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003
- Mindfulness Training Improves Working Memory Capacity and GRE Performance While Reducing Mind Wandering Psychological Science March 28, 2013
- Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. Emotion February 6, 2012
- Neural Correlates of Ongoing Conscious Experience: Both Task-Unrelatedness and Stimulus-Independence Are Related to Default Network Activity PLoS One February 14, 2011
- A wandering mind is a less caring mind: Daily experience sampling during compassion meditation training The Journal of Positive Psychology March 24, 2015
and 6 more in the library