Mindfulness-based interventions for psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Simon B. Goldberg, Raymond P. Tucker, Preston A. Greene, Richard J. Davidson, Bruce E. Wampold, David J. Kearney, David Kearney, Tracy L. Simpson
January 14, 2019 DOI: 10.31231/osf.io/etghn via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractMindfulness-based interventions reduce disorder-specific symptoms more than no treatment, minimal treatment, non-specific active controls, and specific active controls at post-treatment, with effect sizes ranging from d = 0.23 to 0.55. At follow-up, they remain superior to no treatment, non-specific active controls, and specific active controls. Mindfulness conditions did not differ from evidence-based treatments at either time point. The most consistent evidence supports mindfulness for depression, pain conditions, smoking, and addictive disorders. These findings indicate mindfulness-based interventions are promising evidence-based treatments.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Meta-analysis |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 12,005 |
| Population | Clinical populations |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Psychological intervention Clinical psychology Meta-analysis Depression economics |
| Citations | 38 |
| Key finding | Mindfulness-based interventions were superior to no treatment, minimal treatment, non-specific active controls, and specific active controls at post-treatment, and did not differ from evidence-based treatments. |
Abstract
Despite widespread scientific and popular interest in mindfulness-based interventions, questions regarding the empirical status of these treatments remain. We sought to examine the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions for clinical populations on disorder-specific symptoms. To address the question of relative efficacy, we coded the strength of the comparison group into five categories: no treatment, minimal treatment, non-specific active control, specific active control, and evidence-based treatment. A total of 142 non-overlapping samples and 12,005 participants were included. At post-treatment, mindfulness-based interventions were superior to no treatment (d = 0.55), minimal treatment (d = 0.37), non-specific active controls (d = 0.35), and specific active controls (d = 0.23). Mindfulness conditions did not differ from evidence-based treatments (d = -0.004). At follow-up, mindfulness-based interventions were superior to no treatment conditions (d = 0.50), non-specific active controls (d = 0.52), and specific active controls (d = 0.29). Mindfulness conditions did not differ from minimal treatment conditions (d = 0.38) and evidence-based treatments (d = 0.09). Effects on specific disorder subgroups showed the most consistent evidence in support of mindfulness for depression, pain conditions, smoking, and addictive disorders. Results support the notion that mindfulness-based interventions hold promise as evidence-based treatments.