Does Daily Meditation Increase Self-Compassion? A Bayesian Multilevel Diary Study
Matthew J Monnot
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Secondary analysis of an archival daily diary study |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 65 |
| Population | Employees in a two-week online self-compassion meditation program |
| Duration | Two-week program; 28-day diary with 14 intervention days |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Meditation days did not show higher same-day self-compassion than nonmeditation days (median 0.00 SD, 95% credible interval −0.09 to 0.09), and next-day emotional exhaustion was not lower on meditation days (median −0.03 SD, 95% credible interval −0.16 to 0.11). Both credible intervals spanned zero. |
Abstract
Evaluations of brief self-compassion programs usually compare phases, leaving open whether meditation and nonmeditation days differ. With few nonmeditation days, subtracting each person's observed average can distort the separation of day-level from person-level effects. This secondary analysis used the archival 28-day diary of 65 employees in a two-week online selfcompassion meditation program, with morning reports of meditation over the previous 24 hours (Li et al., 2021). Across 14 intervention days, a prespecified Bayesian two-level model treated each person's meditation propensity as latent, separating the within-person contrast between meditation and nonmeditation days from stable differences in meditation frequency. Hypotheses were higher same-day self-compassion on meditation days (primary) and lower next-day emotional exhaustion, adjusting for same-day exhaustion (secondary). Results are posterior medians, 95% credible intervals (CrIs), and directional probabilities. For same-day selfcompassion, the meditation-day slope had median = 0.00 SD, 95% CrI [−0.09, 0.09], P(b > 0) = .48; for next-day exhaustion, the slope had median = −0.03 SD, 95% CrI [−0.16, 0.11], P(b < 0) = .65. Both CrIs spanned zero. An archival intervention diary can answer an adherence question its original phase-based analysis did not ask.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Undergraduate students | 2006 | Observational cohort | |
| Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders Patients with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia | 1992 | Observational cohort | n = 22 |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Long-term Buddhist practitioners and controls | 2004 | Observational cohort |