General Hospital Psychiatry
September 11, 2021
Jennifer Huberty, Megan E. Puzia, Jeni Green et al.
76 citations
Using a meditation app for eight weeks led to greater improvements in depression and anxiety among 239 adults with insomnia symptoms compared to a control group. The mental health benefits were driven by reductions in both physical and mental arousal before sleep, which fully accounted for the effect on depression and partially for the effect on anxiety. Fatigue and daytime sleepiness did not explain the changes. A meditation app may improve depression and anxiety in adults with sleep disturbance by lowering pre-sleep arousal.
The Gerontologist
May 10, 2025
Evan Plys, Morgan Seward, Elizabeth M Allen et al.
3 citations
A mobile app-delivered mindfulness program for dementia caregivers (Healthy Minds Program for Caregivers) was feasible and acceptable in a pilot randomized trial with 95 participants. Feasibility benchmarks were met for enrollment, retention, and data collection. The intervention improved mindfulness and positive aspects of caregiving with large effects, and changes in these targets correlated with stress reduction. However, improvements in stress, depression, and anxiety were not statistically significant compared with an education podcast control, though trends favored the mindfulness program. A fully powered trial is warranted to test efficacy.
JMIR research protocols
April 28, 2023
Chad Stecher, Sara Cloonan, Sebastian Linnemayr et al.
2 citations
Long-term elevated stress contributes to mental and physical health problems. Mindfulness meditation mobile apps offer a promising self-management tool, but poor adherence limits their effectiveness. This planned 16-week randomized controlled trial will test whether combining behavioral economics incentives (self-monitoring messages and financial rewards) with an anchoring strategy—pairing meditation with an existing daily routine—can establish and maintain a habit of at least 10 minutes of daily meditation. The study will compare five groups, varying the type of self-monitoring and whether financial incentives are tied to any-time meditation or meditation near the anchor time. Adherence will be measured weekly, and secondary outcomes include stress, anxiety, PTSD, sleep, and habit strength. The research aims to identify a scalable intervention for stress management.
Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland)
March 18, 2025
Rylan Fowers, Aurel Coza, Yunro Chung et al.
Temporal consistency in the time of day of meditation sessions is associated with long-term meditation app use for fewer than half of users. Among 4205 annual subscribers to a commercial meditation app, 39.5% showed consistent timing, 55.3% inconsistent timing, and 5.23% were indeterminate. Panel models confirmed that temporal consistency had contrasting relationships with meditation maintenance across these three groups. This suggests that other behavioral mechanisms besides temporally consistent habits can support sustained meditation app use, with implications for promoting maintenance of complex health behaviors like physical activity and diet.