Meditation dosage predicts self- and teacher-perceived responsiveness to an 18-month randomised controlled trial
Marco Schlosser, Julie Gonneaud, Stefano Poletti, Romain Bouet, Olga Klimecki, Fabienne Collette, Natalie L. Marchant, Gaël Chételat, Antoine Lutz, Claire André, Florence Allais, Julien Asselineau, Eider M. Arenaza‐Urquijo, Sebastian Baez, Martine Batchelor, Axel Beaugonin, Maelle Botton, Pierre Champetier, Anne Chocat, Pascal Delamillieure, Vincent de la Sayette, Marion Delarue, Harriet Demnitz‐King, Titi Dolma, Stéphanie Egret, Francesca Felisatti, Eglantine Ferrand-Devouges, Eric Frison, Francis Gheysen, Agathe Joret Philippe, Elizabeth Kuhn, Brigitte Landeau, Gwendoline Ledu, Valérie Lefranc, Florence Mezenge, Inès Moulinet, Valentin Ourry, Cassandre Palix, Léo Paly, Géraldine Poisnel, Anne Quillard, Géraldine Rauchs, Florence Requier, Eric Salmon, Corrine Schwimmer, Edelweiss Touron, Caitlin Ware, Tim Whitfield
Scientific Reports November 2, 2024 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-77069-3 via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractOlder adults who spent more time practicing meditation perceived greater benefits from an 18-month meditation program. The study involved 90 healthy adults aged 65-84 years who were randomly assigned to either meditation training or a non-native language training. Higher levels of formal practice were associated with higher combined ratings of self- and teacher-perceived responsiveness across measures of connection, emotions, and meta-awareness during sessions and in daily life. Global responsiveness scores were not correlated with actual changes in well-being. The findings suggest that engagement, rather than baseline characteristics like personality or expectancy, predicts perceived response to meditation training.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 90 |
| Population | Healthy older adults aged 65-84 years |
| Intervention | Meditation training |
| Duration | 18-month intervention |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Disengagement theory Psychological intervention Expectancy theory Randomized controlled trial |
| Citations | 2 |
| Registration | NCT02977819 |
| Key finding | Higher levels of engagement (hours of formal practice) were associated with higher global composite scores of self- and teacher-perceived responsiveness to meditation training. |
Abstract
Understanding the factors that predict why some individuals perceive to respond more to meditation training than others could impact the development, efficacy, adherence levels, and implementation of meditation-based interventions. We investigated individual-level variables associated with self- and teacher-perceived responsiveness to longer-term meditation training. This study presents a secondary analysis of the Age-Well trial (NCT02977819, 30/11/2016) and includes 90 healthy older adults (65-84 years) that were randomised to an 18-month meditation training or a non-native language (English) training. Responsiveness was measured post-intervention using participants' and teachers' ratings of four psychological domains (connection, positive/negative emotions, meta-awareness) in relation to two contexts (during sessions, in daily life), teachers' perception of overall benefit, and a global composite comprising all self- and teacher-perceived responsiveness measures. Linear regression modelling indicates that, when including baseline variables (sex, education, neuroticism, cognition, expectancy) and engagement (hours of formal practice during intervention), only higher levels of engagement were associated with higher global composite scores (standardised estimate = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.24-0.77, p < 0.001). Global composite scores were not correlated with pre-post changes in well-being. Findings indicate that more time spent practising meditation was related to greater perceived intervention effects. We suggest that future studies closely monitor levels of engagement and map reasons for disengagement.