Meditation experts had longer telomeres and fewer short telomeres than matched non-meditators. The psychological factor most strongly linked to telomere maintenance was the absence of experiential avoidance—the tendency to suppress or avoid negative emotions and thoughts—along with a sense of common humanity, as measured by the Self-Compassion Scale. These findings suggest that how meditators relate to their inner experience, rather than meditation itself, may be key to cellular aging.
Most adolescents (69%-80%) followed stable low-problem trajectories for depression risk, social-emotional-behavioural functioning, wellbeing, and anxiety over a one-year school-based mindfulness intervention trial. However, 11%-23% experienced stable high-problem trajectories, 2%-16% showed increasing problems, and 1%-5% showed decreasing problems. Receiving the mindfulness intervention did not affect which trajectory adolescents followed. Individual factors like executive functioning difficulties and baseline mental health risk, along with school climate, predicted trajectory membership, but these effects did not differ between intervention and control groups. The findings indicate that universal interventions may not address the diverse needs of all students.