Applied developmental science
January 1, 2025
Lisa Flook, Matthew J Hirshberg, Lori Gustafson et al.
20 citations
Fifth graders who completed an 8-week school-based mindfulness training showed significant improvements on a computerized measure of cognitive flexibility and received higher end-of-year social-emotional learning grades compared to a wait-list control group, after accounting for prior-year grades. The 292 students from 21 classrooms were randomly assigned to either the mindfulness program or a control condition. Teacher-rated social-emotional competence did not differ between groups. The results suggest that a brief mindfulness intervention can bolster cognitive and social-emotional skills during the transitional pre-adolescent period.
Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science
March 1, 2025
Simon B Goldberg, Ashley D Kendall, Matthew J Hirshberg et al.
15 citations
In a randomized controlled trial of a meditation app with 662 participants (80.4% had elevated depression or anxiety), the relationship between how much people used the app (dosage) and changes in psychological distress was inconsistent. Across 41 different statistical models, some showed that more use—measured in minutes, days, or activities completed—was linked to greater reductions in distress, but many models found no such link, and a few even suggested the opposite pattern. This variability highlights the challenge of defining and studying dosage in meditation app interventions and points to the need for careful, transparent methods in this area.
Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science
January 1, 2025
Matthew J Hirshberg, Cortland J Dahl, Daniel Bolt et al.
9 citations
A four-week smartphone-based meditation intervention reduced psychological distress in adults, most of whom had clinical anxiety or depressive symptoms during the early COVID-19 pandemic. The intervention improved four proposed mediators—mindful action, loneliness, cognitive defusion, and purpose—which together accounted for 21.9% to 62.5% of the effect on distress at three-month follow-up. In a multiple mediator analysis, reduced loneliness alone explained 61.7% of the combined indirect effect. The findings suggest multiple psychological pathways may mediate distress reduction in digital meditation-based interventions.
Journal of consulting and clinical psychology
August 1, 2024
Simon B Goldberg, Daniel M Bolt, Cortland J Dahl et al.
5 citations
Meditation app users who reported increased positive feelings and decreased negative feelings during practice showed greater reductions in psychological distress, both immediately after the program and three months later. In a randomized trial with 243 distressed public school employees, most of whom had clinically elevated depression or anxiety, negative affect during meditation declined over time while positive affect remained stable. Changes in positive affect predicted later distress more strongly than changes in negative affect. The findings challenge the common mindfulness emphasis on nonjudgmental awareness regardless of emotional tone, suggesting that the affective quality of meditation experience matters for outcomes and could guide personalized intervention.