A meta-analysis of 5 trials found that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) significantly reduces depressive symptoms in older adults (effect size g = 0.53) and anxiety (g = 0.43). The authors recommend MBCT for treating depression and anxiety in older individuals, with involvement of authorized psychiatric nurses, but caution that the limited number of studies and potential publication bias call for further research with longer follow-up and larger samples.
People are less interested in cultivating kindness than in boosting their own happiness, even when signing up for loving-kindness and compassion meditation training. Two studies—one with 583 university students and another with 1,075 participants in a four-week online training—found that kind attitudes were the least desired outcome among potential trainees. Higher interest in meditations focused on subjective well-being predicted increases in personal happiness. The findings suggest that a hedonic bias, prioritizing personal happiness over kindness, is reinforced by trainees themselves, raising philosophical and ethical questions for modern positive psychology.