JMIR formative research
October 5, 2022
Muskan Yadav, Sandra Neate, Craig Hassed et al.
8 citations
Participants in an online mindfulness course who completed at least 90% of the program reported that a virtual community, appealing content, enablers like free access and variety, and noticeable benefits to physical and mental well-being helped them finish the course and apply its teachings. Novel findings included growing together as a group, repeating the course, evidence-based teaching, and immediate well-being improvements. These elements may guide the design of future digital health interventions to support positive behavior change.
JMIR formative research
January 30, 2024
Caeleigh A Landry, Hugh C Mccall, Janine D Beahm et al.
7 citations
Public safety personnel (PSP) such as police and firefighters face high risks of mental disorders and barriers to traditional treatments. The PSP Wellbeing Course, an internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) program, was supplemented with five mindfulness meditations. Among 40 enrolled clients, 68% used the meditations, averaging 4.8 minutes per week. Clients who completed the course showed statistically significant improvements in anxiety, depression, PTSD, and anger, but not insomnia. Self-reported meditation time did not predict symptom changes. Interviews revealed benefits alongside challenges like discomfort sitting with feelings. Clients suggested better integration, optional use, and shorter meditations. The study demonstrates partial feasibility of adding mindfulness to iCBT for PSP.
JMIR formative research
August 16, 2023
Grant Jones, Felipe Herrmann, Matthew K Nock
7 citations
A digital music-based mindfulness intervention significantly reduced race-based anxiety in middle-to-low-income Black Americans. The web-based study used a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design with five participants and featured contributions from a meditation teacher and a former presidential speechwriter. State anxiety decreased substantially after the intervention, with Tau-U effect sizes ranging from -0.75 to -0.38. Feasibility and acceptability were high, with participants rating their likelihood of recommending the intervention at 98 out of 100 on average. The intervention was designed to overcome common barriers to mindfulness treatments for Black Americans, such as high costs, time commitments, and limited cultural relevance.
JMIR formative research
July 17, 2025
Satish Jaiswal, Jason Nan, Seth Dizon et al.
5 citations
A pilot study tested a parent-child digital mindfulness and compassion training app called Cooperative Compassion (CoCo) with 24 families. After 30 sessions over three months, the program was feasible, with 80% of families completing most sessions. Children showed no significant improvement in depression scores but did demonstrate faster processing on an emotion task. Parents experienced significant reductions in stress, anxiety, and depression that lasted at three months, and their mindfulness gains correlated with stress relief. Brain recordings during a breathing task revealed reduced default mode network activity after training, suggesting less mind-wandering and better focus. The results support larger, randomized trials.
JMIR formative research
May 6, 2024
Kaitlyn Delaney Chappell, Diana Meakins, Melanie Marsh-Joyal et al.
5 citations
Adults with inflammatory bowel disease and self-reported anxiety or depression were offered an 8-week virtual mindfulness-based stress reduction program led by psychiatrists. Of 64 referred patients, 16 agreed to participate; the most common reason for declining was lack of time. Seven of the 16 participants completed the program. Completers experienced decreased anxiety and depression symptoms and increased health-related quality of life, with improvements persisting at 6-month follow-up. Participants reported better coping strategies and disease management. The intervention was acceptable to those who finished it, but the time commitment may be too high for many patients with IBD.
JMIR formative research
December 3, 2024
Mary L Peng, Joan Monin, Polina Ovchinnikova et al.
4 citations
Viewing psychedelic art—vibrant, distorted, and patterned imagery—produced a greater intensity and variety of emotional, mental, and physical effects than viewing natural scenery. In a pilot trial, 102 participants aged 18 to 35 were randomly assigned to watch either 300 seconds of psychedelic art or 300 seconds of scenic imagery. Qualitative analysis of open-ended survey responses showed that psychedelic art evoked relaxation, peace, anxiety relief, joy, euphoria, awe, a hypnotizing and meditative effect, creative thoughts, heightened bodily awareness, and sometimes initial overstimulation that shifted to calmness. These preliminary findings suggest psychedelic art may support healing and well-being, with potential applications in mental health care and digital health tools.
JMIR formative research
June 11, 2025
Tovan Lew, Natnaiel M Dubale, Erik Doose et al.
3 citations
Undergraduate students who used the Calm mindfulness app for 30 days showed reduced state anxiety, stress, and improved sleep quality compared to a control group. In the treatment group (37 students), state anxiety averaged 12 (SD 7.8) versus 14 (SD 7.4) in controls, state stress averaged 15 (SD 8.5) versus 20 (SD 8.8), and sleep quality scores averaged 6.4 (SD 3.5) versus 7.7 (SD 2.7). Perceived stress was also lower in the treatment group. The pilot findings suggest that a mindfulness app may help reduce anxiety and stress and enhance sleep quality among undergraduates, though a larger trial is needed to confirm.
JMIR formative research
March 11, 2025
Mollie R Cummins, Julia Ivanova, Hiral Soni et al.
3 citations
In the postpandemic era, telemental health providers report high comfort prescribing via telemedicine, with 84% strongly agreeing they are comfortable prescribing medications. However, comfort decreases for patients never seen in person or located out-of-state. Most providers believe they can safely prescribe controlled substances via telemedicine without prior in-person care, though 14.8% to 19.1% (by schedule) feel they can rarely or never do so safely. Perceived safety is lowest for schedule IV medications and highest for schedules II and III. Differences in comfort and safety perceptions exist by licensure type and specialty. Providers use adaptive strategies to ensure safe prescribing based on clinical context.
JMIR formative research
January 24, 2025
Lia Antico, Judson Brewer
2 citations
A short digital mindfulness training program, designed with clinician input and delivered via podcast or app, reduced cynicism—a key component of burnout—by 33% in two pilot studies with physicians and nurse practitioners. Anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, personal distress, and sleep disturbances also decreased, while self-compassion and mindfulness improved. No changes were observed for depression, perspective taking, or empathic concern. The findings suggest that this brief, digital mindfulness training can be a practical tool for alleviating burnout and anxiety among physicians.
JMIR formative research
March 4, 2024
Grant Jones, Felipe Herrmann, Adam Bear et al.
2 citations
In a group of people who recently used psychedelics, increases in mindfulness were followed by improvements in well-being. The findings suggest that mindfulness may be a mechanism through which psychedelic experiences lead to positive mental health outcomes.
JMIR formative research
October 15, 2024
Morghane Aubert, Céline Clavel, Christine Le Scanff et al.
1 citation
A web-based mindfulness intervention with five short sessions (5–10 minutes each) was designed to holistically improve lifestyle habits. In 32 participants who completed the 12-week program, decreases in negative affect, anxiety, and emotional distress were observed, along with an increase in dispositional mindfulness. However, no effect was found on reported healthy eating or physical activity habits. Few participants repeated the exercises as recommended. Most participants were new to mindfulness and reported satisfaction with the sessions, though one session on resisting unhealthy foods was considered too strict by a third of participants, suggesting a need for reformulation.
JMIR formative research
July 25, 2024
Ioannis Iliakis, Maria Anagnostouli, George Chrousos
1 citation
A 31-year-old woman with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis practiced a mindfulness-based body scan technique daily before bedtime. Compared to baseline, the intervention improved both sleep quality and overall quality of life according to subjective questionnaires and objective biometric data from an electronic portable device. Biometric data revealed a notable dissociation between daily stress levels and sleep quality during the intervention period. Although self-report instruments indicated significant improvement, potential biases were noted. The single-case study suggests the technique may help manage sleep disturbances and enhance quality of life in MS, but larger-scale investigation is needed.
JMIR formative research
November 24, 2023
Grant Jones, Franchesca Castro-Ramirez, Maha Al-Suwaidi et al.
A brief, digital, music-based mindfulness intervention called 'healing attempt' reduced state anxiety and increased mindfulness and self-compassion in four Black American adults with elevated race-based anxiety and little-to-no meditation experience. In a series of single-case experiments conducted via Zoom, the intervention showed high feasibility and acceptability, with an average likelihood of recommending it of 88 out of 100. The findings suggest that such a low-cost, culturally adaptable approach may help address barriers to mental health care in this population, though further trials are needed to test lasting effects.