Meditation, Compassionate Love, and Mental Health in Later Life.

Meditation is linked to better mental health in older adults partly through fostering compassionate love. In a nationwide web-based survey of 1,861 participants, those who meditated reported significantly higher feelings of being loved. Greater feelings of love were associated with lower depressive symptoms and anxiety. Meditation had indirect effects on both depressive symptoms and anxiety through compassionate love. The findings suggest that contemplative practices that cultivate compassionate love may help improve mental health in later life.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Understanding of the mechanisms by which meditation imparts beneficial effects on later-life mental health is limited. The current study assessed the role of compassionate love in mediating the relationship between meditation and mental health in later life. Using data from a nationwide web-based survey (N = 1,861), we examined the indirect effects of meditation on depressive symptoms and anxiety via compassionate love. Participants who practiced meditation (compared to those who did not) had significantly higher feelings of being loved (b = 0.11, p < 0.05); those who experienced more love had lower depressive symptoms (b = -2.10, p < 0.001) and anxiety (b = -0.99, p < 0.001). Meditation also had significant indirect effects (via compassionate love) on depressive symptoms (b = -0.23, p < 0.05) and anxiety (b = -0.11, p < 0.05). This study underscores the need for contemplative interventions that foster compassionate love to improve mental health in later life. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 50(3), 40-50.].