Efficacy of mindfulness to regulate induced emotions in the laboratory: A systematic review and meta-analysis of self-report and biobehavioral measures.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to investigate the effects of mindfulness as an emotion regulation strategy in laboratory settings using mood induction procedures.
Results Summary
The meta-analysis found a small, initially significant effect size of mindfulness on mood regulation, which became non-significant after removing outliers. High heterogeneity was observed, and the efficacy of mindfulness in down-regulating induced mood states was limited.
Population
Not specified (meta-analysis of 43 studies, likely varied populations).
Effective Dosage
Not mentioned
Duration
Not mentioned
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
mindfulness-based interventions | decrease | mood regulation | well-controlled laboratory settings | g= -0.15 (95% CI [-0.30, -0.01], p = 0.04) | found a small significant overall effect size | #1 |
mindfulness strategies | no change | efficacy in down-regulating or preventing heightened or chronic effects of induced mood states | well-controlled laboratory settings | g=-0.15, p = 0.06 | became non-significant after removing outliers | #2 |
A substantial part of the research on the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions on mood regulation is conducted in the laboratory. Nevertheless, a systematic review of the results is lacking. This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the effects of mindfulness as an emotion regulation (ER) strategy when using mood induction procedures. A systematic search of databases was conducted and a total of 43 studies were included in the meta-analysis. We found a small significant overall effect size of mindfulness [g= -0.15 (95% CI [-0.30, -0.01], p = 0.04)], which became non-significant after removing outliers (g=-0.15, p = 0.06). We also found high levels of heterogeneity which was not explained by the moderating variables analyzed. Thus, there is limited meta-analytic evidence of the efficacy of mindfulness strategies in down-regulating or preventing heightened or chronic effects of induced mood states in well-controlled laboratory settings. We propose that this could be partially due to some limitations in laboratory methodologies and suggest some guidelines to overcome them in future primary research.