BMC complementary medicine and therapies
December 4, 2025
Jonathan N Davies, Cate Bailey, Julieta Galante et al.
1 citation
About 41.5% of Australian and 35.7% of New Zealand adults have ever used meditation, with 32.8% and 24.9% using it in the past year. Younger age and higher education consistently predicted past-year use in both countries. In Australia, additional predictors included female gender, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander ancestry, unmet mental health care needs, and receipt of complementary care. In New Zealand, identifying as LGBTQIA+ was a strong positive predictor, while not receiving medical care was linked to lower odds. Over 21.7% of Australian and 17.6% of New Zealand meditators reported a meditation-related adverse effect.
Scientific Reports
May 19, 2026
Karin Matko, Cate Bailey, Julieta Galante et al.
Seventy percent of adults in Australia and New Zealand engaged in contemplative practices such as meditation, yoga, or breathing techniques in the past year, most commonly meditation (31%). Practitioners reported higher psychological distress and greater use of mental healthcare than non-practitioners. After adjusting for sociodemographic differences, the association with distress disappeared for yoga and relaxation practitioners but remained for breathing techniques, which were linked to increased distress in all models. Among those with unmet healthcare needs, meditators and relaxation practitioners reported less distress than non-practitioners with unmet needs. The findings suggest contemplative practices may serve as complements to mental healthcare, but their complex relationships with mental health require further study.
Mindfulness
February 25, 2026
Cate Bailey, Nicholas T. van Dam, Jonathan N Davies et al.
A nationally representative Australian survey compared quality of life, health service use, and costs among meditators, other contemplative practitioners, and non-practitioners. Unadjusted quality-of-life scores were higher for non-practitioners, and this difference persisted after accounting for demographics but disappeared when mental health service use was included. Unmet mental-health service need was highest among meditators (13.9%) versus non-practitioners (2.4%). The average annual cost of contemplative practice was $1,281 per person. The findings provide preliminary data for future economic evaluations of contemplative practices.
October 20, 2025
Karin Matko, Cate Bailey, Julieta Galante et al.
preprint
A nationally representative survey of 2,640 Australians and New Zealanders found that 70% had engaged in contemplative practices over the past year, most commonly meditation, relaxation, breathing techniques, and yoga. Users of these practices reported higher psychological distress and mental healthcare use than non-practitioners. After adjusting for socio-demographic differences, the association with distress disappeared for yoga and relaxation practitioners; for meditators it disappeared when accounting for mental healthcare use. Breathing practice remained linked to increased distress across all models. However, meditators and relaxation practitioners with unmet healthcare needs reported less distress than non-practitioners with unmet needs. The practices may play a complementary or alternative role in managing mental health.
September 16, 2025
Cate Bailey, Nicholas T. van Dam, Jonathan N. Davies et al.
preprint
A nationally representative Australian survey of 2,065 people found that meditators and other contemplative practitioners had lower unadjusted quality-of-life than non-practitioners, a difference that persisted after accounting for demographics but disappeared when mental health service use was considered. Unmet mental-health service need was highest among meditators (13.9%) versus non-practitioners (2.4%), and 8.9% of the overall sample had unmet need. The average annual cost of contemplative practices was $1,281 per person. The findings provide preliminary data for future cost-effectiveness evaluations of contemplative practices, with the EQ-HWB-9 index performing well as an outcome measure.
JMIR research protocols
July 17, 2026
Lillian Ofori Ward, Cate Bailey, Prai Wattanatakulchat et al.
A protocol for a prospective longitudinal cohort study will follow 600 beginner meditators in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom over one year to investigate whether regular meditation practice improves quality of life and mental well-being. The study will compare effects between secular and spiritual practitioners, assess cost-effectiveness in terms of quality of life, and track the incidence and functional impact of any adverse effects. Participants report practice frequency and duration weekly via an app, with monthly sampling of quality of life, well-being, practice characteristics, costs, and adverse effects. Data collection began in October 2025; results are expected in January 2028.