Meditation Based Therapies—A Systematic Review and Some Critical Observations
Lone Overby Fjorback, Harald Walach
Religions January 4, 2012 DOI: 10.3390/rel3010001 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Systematic review Randomized Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Interventions | Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) Mindfulness Meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 26 |
| Key findings | The review concludes that evidence supports MBSR for improving mental health and MBCT for preventing depressive relapse. MBSR improved mental health in ten of the included trials versus waitlist or treatment-as-usual controls, was as effective as active controls in four, and tended to outperform active controls in one; MBCT reduced depressive relapse risk in all five trials examining it. |
Abstract
This article systematically reviews the evidence for Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and analyses the conditions around their rising popularity. MBSR, MBCT and Mindfulness Meditation were used as key words. The inclusion criteria were randomized controlled trials using the standard MBSR/MBCT program with a minimum of 33 participants. Twenty four studies were included. MBSR improved mental health in ten studies compared to waitlist control or treatment as usual. Moreover, MBSR was as efficacious as active control group in four studies, and showed a tendency over active control in one study. MBCT reduced the risk of depressive relapse in all five included studies. Evidence supports that MBSR improves mental health and MBCT prevents depressive relapse. It is interesting to observe that meditation based therapy programs are rapidly enjoying popularity. We discuss the cultural and theoretical implications.
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 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 8
- Phenomenological Fingerprints of Four Meditations: Differential State Changes in Affect, Mind-Wandering, Meta-Cognition, and Interoception Before and After Daily Practice Across 9 Months of Training Mindfulness August 18, 2016
- 1 Mindfulness as a booming, diverse and (non) religious phenomenon - mapping and analyzing mindfulness in the city of Aarhus Religion i Danmark June 20, 2016
- Meditation for Major Depressive Disorder: A Systematic Review RAND Corporation eBooks 2015
- The Gamification of Meditation: A Randomized-Controlled Study of a Prescribed Mobile Mindfulness Meditation Application in Reducing College Students’ Depression Simulation & Gaming June 4, 2019
- Mindfulness meditation for workplace wellness: An evidence map Work May 28, 2019
and 3 more in the library
Cites 34
- The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003
- Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2003
- Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation Psychosomatic Medicine July 1, 2003
- Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 2000
- Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: Replication and Exploration of Differential Relapse Prevention Effects. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 2004
and 29 more in the library