Understanding the Implementation of Informal Meditation Practice in a Smartphone-Based Intervention: A Qualitative Analysis
Qiang Xie, Rachel L. Dyer, Sin U Lam, Corrina Frye, Cortland J. Dahl, Andrew Quanbeck, Inbal Nahum‐Shani, Richard J. Davidson, Simon B. Goldberg
November 3, 2023 preprint DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/efgpk via OpenAlex
Summary
Brief, informal meditation practices done during daily activities may help make meditation-based interventions more effective and accessible. Interviews with 17 participants after a 4-week smartphone meditation program revealed four themes: reported benefits, how they integrated practice into daily life, barriers to practice, and recommended facilitators. Barriers included lack of reminders and social support; facilitators included personalized app features and repeating intervention content. Addressing these factors could increase engagement with informal practice.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Qualitative study (inductive content analysis of interviews nested in a randomized trial) Preregistered |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 17 |
| Population | Adults who completed a 4-week smartphone-delivered meditation training (mean age 37.12 years; 82.35% female; 52.94% non-Latinx White) |
| Duration | 4-week intervention |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Intervention counseling Psychological intervention Informal learning Qualitative research |
| Citations | 1 |
| Registration | NCT05229406 |
| Key finding | Four categories emerged: reported benefits, integration, perceived barriers, and recommended facilitators of informal meditation practice. |
Abstract
Objectives: Informal practice (i.e., brief meditation practices incorporated spontaneously into daily activities) may be important for increasing the efficacy and accessibility of meditation-based interventions (MedBIs). However, the facilitators and barriers to engaging in informal practice are largely unknown. The current study aimed to investigate factors associated with the implementation of informal practice. Method: Participants were drawn from a randomized trial testing the effects of 5- versus 15-min daily meditation practice in a 4-week smartphone-delivered meditation training. Qualitative interviews on informal practice were conducted with 17 participants (mean age: 37.12 years; 82.35% female; 52.94% non-Latinx White) following the intervention. Given that prior knowledge on this topic is limited, inductive content analysis was utilized to characterize participants’ experiences in relation to implementing informal practice. Results: Four overarching categories emerged from the data, namely (a) reported benefits of informal practice, (b) integration of informal practice, (c) perceived barriers to informal practice, and (d) recommended facilitators of informal practice. Conclusion: This study underscores the importance of addressing barriers and facilitators (e.g., providing personalized app features, reminders, social support, and repeating intervention content) to encourage individuals’ informal practice. Findings provide suggestions for methods to increase engagement in informal practice, which may, in turn, increase the accessibility and effectiveness of MedBIs. Preregistration: The larger trial from which the qualitative interview participants were drawn was preregistered through clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05229406) and the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/fszvj/?view_only=039b14ccbf8848bd99808c983070b635). The qualitative analyses reported here were not preregistered.