Outstanding Challenges in Scientific Research on Mindfulness and Meditation

This commentary agrees with Van Dam et al.'s critique of mindfulness research but adds five omitted points: many methodological issues are not unique to mindfulness studies; modern research focuses narrowly on one or two contemplative practices, ignoring other potentially impactful forms; mindfulness was not originally developed to treat disease; key practical questions about practice duration, intensity, spacing, and whether formal meditation is necessary or can be integrated into daily activities remain understudied; and mobile technology will be essential for standardizing training, addressing individual differences, and conducting large-scale studies.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Van Dam et al. raise a number of critical issues in contemporary research on mindfulness and meditation and offer a prescriptive agenda for future work in this area. While we agree with all of the key points made in their article, there are a number of important issues omitted that are central to a comprehensive agenda for future research in this area. This commentary highlights five key points: (a) Many of the key methodological issues the article raises are not specific to research on mindfulness; (b) contemplative practices are varied, and the landscape of modern scientific research has evolved to focus almost exclusively on one or two types of practice to the exclusion of other forms of practice that are potentially highly impactful; (c) mindfulness and related contemplative practices were not originally developed to treat disease; (d) key issues of duration, intensity and spacing of practice, and the extent to which formal meditation practice is required or whether practice can be piggybacked onto other non–cognitively demanding activities of daily living (e.g., commuting) remain as among the most important practical questions for disseminating these practices more widely, yet have received scant serious research attention; and (e) the use of mobile technology in both disseminating contemplative training and assessing its impact is going to be required to solve some of the key methodological challenges in this area including standardizing training across sites and addressing individual differences (which will require very large- N studies).