Psychotherapy research : journal of the Society for Psychotherapy Research
November 1, 2024
Shannon Maloney, Jesus Montero-Marin, Willem Kuyken
17 citations
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy-'Taking it Further' (MBCT-TiF) improved mental well-being more than ongoing mindfulness practice alone in 164 graduates of mindfulness-based programs. This improvement occurred through increases in mindfulness, self-compassion, and decentering—each independently mediated the effect. For depression, all three mediators also played a role, but only mindfulness and decentering mediated effects on psychological quality of life and anxiety. The findings suggest that MBCT-TiF works by enhancing these three psychological skills, though future research should test them together and alongside other potential mediators like equanimity.
BMJ mental health
August 24, 2024
Shannon Maloney, Merle Kock, Yasmijn Slaghekke et al.
16 citations
A systematic review of 27 randomized controlled trials found that mindfulness skills, decentering, and attitudes such as self-compassion are significant indirect pathways through which mindfulness-based programs improve mental health and well-being. Only four studies examined mechanisms within specific mindfulness practices. The evidence for alternative mechanisms like attention and awareness remains limited, especially regarding well-being outcomes, mental health promotion, and comparisons with active controls. The authors call for high-quality trials with powered multivariate mediation analyses to address these knowledge gaps and guide future interventions.
Journal of consulting and clinical psychology
September 1, 2024
Barnaby D Dunn, Laura Warbrick, Rachel Hayes et al.
10 citations
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy with support to taper medication (MBCT-TS) increases positive affect more than continuing antidepressant medication alone, and this increase partly explains the reduced risk of relapse or recurrence in people with recurrent depression. In a randomized trial of 424 adults with three or more prior depressive episodes, MBCT-TS led to significantly greater positive affect at posttreatment compared with maintenance antidepressants. Across both treatments, higher positive affect at intake predicted a lower hazard of relapse over two years. Among participants who had not relapsed by posttreatment, a greater rise in positive affect mediated a reduced risk of subsequent relapse. The findings indicate that boosting positive affect is one mechanism through which MBCT-TS protects against relapse when discontinuing antidepressants.
Mindfulness
January 1, 2023
Shannon Maloney, Christina Surawy, Maryanne Martin et al.
9 citations
Four specific mindfulness practices from Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (body scan, mindful movement, breath and body, and befriending) produced similar state- and trait-level improvements in self-compassion, mindfulness, decentering, interoceptive awareness, and psychological quality of life among 160 adults from the general population. After a single session, state-level effects were observed across all candidate mechanisms and outcomes except decentering, with effect sizes ranging from 0.27 to 0.86. After two weeks of daily practice, trait-level improvements occurred in psychological quality of life and most mechanisms (effect sizes 0.26 to 0.64). No practice proved superior to any other. Changes in mindfulness, self-compassion, decentering, and body listening were linked to better psychological quality of life and more self-led practice.
PLoS One
July 17, 2024
Julieta Galante, Jesus Montero-Marin, Maris Vainre et al.
8 citations
A randomized controlled trial found that participants who completed an 8-week mindfulness-based program reported altered states of consciousness—including experiences of unity, transcendence of time and space, and feelings of bliss—that persisted up to a year later. Compared to a control group, those in the mindfulness program showed significantly higher scores on measures of altered states at both post-intervention and 12-month follow-up. The findings suggest that mindfulness training can produce enduring changes in subjective experience beyond the meditation session itself.
Trials
February 20, 2023
Javier García-campayo, Rinchen Hijar-Aguinaga, Yolanda López-del-hoyo et al.
6 citations
This protocol describes an exploratory randomized controlled trial designed to test whether four deconstructive meditative practices can improve well-being and promote self-deconstruction. The study will compare the effects of these practices, likely involving techniques that challenge the sense of self, against a control condition. Outcomes will include measures of well-being and self-deconstruction, with the aim of identifying which practices are most effective. The trial is exploratory, meaning it will generate preliminary data to inform future research. No results are reported as this is a study protocol.
The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science
April 1, 2025
Jesus Montero-Marin, Verena Hinze, Shannon Maloney et al.
4 citations
Mindfulness skills mediate the effect of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) on depressive symptoms over 24 months, and this mediation is stronger for people with more severe depression. Among 424 adults with recurrent depression, those with higher severity showed an expected 10-point reduction on the Beck Depression Inventory-II, compared to a 3.5-point reduction for those with lower severity. The findings suggest MBCT with antidepressant tapering support works through a unique mechanism—mindfulness skills—that differs from maintenance medication alone, supporting personalized treatment for recurrent depression.
Journal of consulting and clinical psychology
June 1, 2025
Andreas Voldstad, Ananda Zeas-Sigüenza, Anton Skolzkov et al.
2 citations
Mindfulness interventions that train nonjudgmental attention to present-moment experience have a consistent but small effect on romantic relationship satisfaction. A meta-analysis of 28 randomized controlled trials with 6,097 participants found a significant medium effect initially, but this was driven by extreme outliers. After removing those outliers, the effect was small and consistent. Effects were moderated by intervention length, baseline satisfaction, and risk of bias. The certainty of the evidence is very low due to inconsistency, imprecision, risk of bias, and suspicion of publication bias. The findings point to the need for better program theory and rigorous methodology.
Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
June 12, 2026
Thorsten Barnhofer, Maria Niemi, Johannes Michalak et al.
1 citation
For adults with difficult-to-treat depression—those who have not responded to prior treatments, have treatment-resistant depression, or have a chronic course—mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is likely superior to usual care, reducing depressive symptoms by a standardized mean difference of -0.40 at post-treatment and -0.41 at medium-term follow-up. There was a 92% and 85% probability, respectively, that these benefits exceeded a minimal important difference. However, MBCT did not show clear superiority over other active psychosocial interventions, and no robust moderators of outcome were identified across baseline severity, chronicity, or comorbidity.
Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science
May 14, 2026
Anne Maj van der Velden, Jakub Vohryzek, Paulina Clara Dagnino et al.
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) alters brain network dynamics during depressive rumination in people with recurrent depression. In a randomized controlled trial with 48 participants, those who received MBCT plus treatment as usual showed changes in the occurrence frequency of a 'salience-somatomotor' brain state during rumination compared to those receiving treatment as usual alone. These neural changes were linked to reduced rumination after treatment and fewer depressive symptoms three months later. The findings suggest that MBCT may work by modifying how the brain's somatosensory and salience networks interact during rumination, offering clues about the brain mechanisms underlying treatment response.
Front Psychol
January 21, 2025
Javier García-campayo, Jesus Montero-Marin, Roberto Aristegui
Contemplative neuroscience, which studies meditation, yoga, and related practices, is gaining acceptance in Western psychology and psychiatry, fulfilling a vision of earlier pioneers. A special issue on this topic includes nine papers. One clinical study found that neither semantic nor sensory priming improved outcomes of a self-compassion meditation. Another found that online mindfulness reduced state paranoia in individuals with high positive schizotypy but not trait paranoia. EEG research on Tibetan meditators showed concentrative meditation produced more neural changes than analytical meditation. A study on mindfulness and daily stress found that, except for nonreacting, mindfulness was positively associated with perceived stress.