Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to evaluate the efficacy of meditation programs in improving stress-related outcomes such as anxiety, depression, and pain in diverse adult clinical populations.
Results Summary
Mindfulness meditation programs showed moderate evidence of improved anxiety, depression, and pain, with small to moderate reductions in negative psychological stress dimensions. However, there was low or insufficient evidence for effects on positive mood, attention, substance use, eating habits, sleep, and weight.
Population
Diverse adult clinical populations.
Effective Dosage
Not specified.
Duration
8 weeks to 6 months.
Interactions
None mentioned.
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
meditation programs | decrease | anxiety | diverse adult clinical populations | effect size, 0.38 [95% CI, 0.12-0.64] at 8 weeks and 0.22 [0.02-0.43] at 3-6 months | moderate evidence of improved | #1 |
meditation programs | decrease | depression | diverse adult clinical populations | 0.30 [0.00-0.59] at 8 weeks and 0.23 [0.05-0.42] at 3-6 months | moderate evidence of improved | #2 |
meditation programs | decrease | pain | diverse adult clinical populations | 0.33 [0.03- 0.62] | moderate evidence of improved | #3 |
meditation programs | decrease | stress/distress | diverse adult clinical populations | - | low evidence of improved | #4 |
meditation programs | increase | mental health-related quality of life | diverse adult clinical populations | - | low evidence of improved | #5 |
meditation programs | no change | positive mood | diverse adult clinical populations | - | low evidence of no effect or insufficient evidence of any effect | #6 |
meditation programs | no change | attention | diverse adult clinical populations | - | low evidence of no effect or insufficient evidence of any effect | #7 |
meditation programs | no change | substance use | diverse adult clinical populations | - | low evidence of no effect or insufficient evidence of any effect | #8 |
meditation programs | no change | eating habits | diverse adult clinical populations | - | low evidence of no effect or insufficient evidence of any effect | #9 |
meditation programs | no change | sleep | diverse adult clinical populations | - | low evidence of no effect or insufficient evidence of any effect | #10 |
meditation programs | no change | weight | diverse adult clinical populations | - | low evidence of no effect or insufficient evidence of any effect | #11 |
meditation programs | no change | - | diverse adult clinical populations | - | no evidence that meditation programs were better than any active treatment | #12 |
meditation programs | decrease | multiple negative dimensions of psychological stress | patients | - | can result in small to moderate reductions | #13 |
IMPORTANCE: Many people meditate to reduce psychological stress and stress-related health problems. To counsel people appropriately, clinicians need to know what the evidence says about the health benefits of meditation. OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy of meditation programs in improving stress-related outcomes (anxiety, depression, stress/distress, positive mood, mental health-related quality of life, attention, substance use, eating habits, sleep, pain, and weight) in diverse adult clinical populations. EVIDENCE REVIEW: We identified randomized clinical trials with active controls for placebo effects through November 2012 from MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, PsycArticles, Scopus, CINAHL, AMED, the Cochrane Library, and hand searches. Two independent reviewers screened citations and extracted data. We graded the strength of evidence using 4 domains (risk of bias, precision, directness, and consistency) and determined the magnitude and direction of effect by calculating the relative difference between groups in change from baseline. When possible, we conducted meta-analyses using standardized mean differences to obtain aggregate estimates of effect size with 95% confidence intervals. FINDINGS: After reviewing 18 753 citations, we included 47 trials with 3515 participants. Mindfulness meditation programs had moderate evidence of improved anxiety (effect size, 0.38 [95% CI, 0.12-0.64] at 8 weeks and 0.22 [0.02-0.43] at 3-6 months), depression (0.30 [0.00-0.59] at 8 weeks and 0.23 [0.05-0.42] at 3-6 months), and pain (0.33 [0.03- 0.62]) and low evidence of improved stress/distress and mental health-related quality of life. We found low evidence of no effect or insufficient evidence of any effect of meditation programs on positive mood, attention, substance use, eating habits, sleep, and weight. We found no evidence that meditation programs were better than any active treatment (ie, drugs, exercise, and other behavioral therapies). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Clinicians should be aware that meditation programs can result in small to moderate reductions of multiple negative dimensions of psychological stress. Thus, clinicians should be prepared to talk with their patients about the role that a meditation program could have in addressing psychological stress. Stronger study designs are needed to determine the effects of meditation programs in improving the positive dimensions of mental health and stress-related behavior.