Each month our editorial team sifts through hundreds of papers and curates notable findings—for practitioners and informed readers who want to stay current with the evidence. Subscribe to the monthly Research Digest for expert analysis and concise summaries of key papers.
7 papers
This meta-analysis combined 241 effect sizes from 114 studies to test how six habitual emotion-regulation strategies relate to symptoms of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and substance-related problems. Rumination showed the strongest (large) link with symptoms. Avoidance, problem solving, and suppression showed medium-to-large links, while reappraisal and acceptance showed smaller (small-to-medium)…
This 2011 review looked at many studies on mindfulness and mental health. It defines mindfulness as paying attention in the present with nonjudgmental acceptance and says this involves both focusing attention and an open, curious attitude. The authors examined three kinds of research—correlational studies, intervention trials, and lab experiments—and concluded…
This 2001 review looked at studies on exercise, anxiety, depression, and stress. It found that short-term emotional effects of exercise are mixed, but many cross-sectional and longitudinal studies report that regular aerobic exercise training reduces anxiety and depression symptoms and may protect against the harmful effects of stress. The clearest…
Treatments for depression have gotten better and far more people can get them since the 1980s. Yet the share of people in the general population with depression has not gone down. The authors call this the “treatment-prevalence paradox” and review seven possible explanations. They find little evidence that more cases…
This paper pooled results from 19 randomized trials with 1,173 adults to see if meditation and yoga change PTSD symptoms. Overall, these mind–body practices were linked to a small-to-medium reduction in PTSD symptoms (effect size = −0.39). The authors found no big differences by type of practice, who was studied,…
This review brings together reports from 38 papers (published 1994–2019) describing experiences of 322 practitioners and 163 clients who did talking therapy in outdoor natural spaces. The authors used a mixed-method thematic synthesis to build a framework of themes about how outdoor work is done, what practical steps are needed,…
This meta-analysis pooled randomized trials that gave a new psychotherapy to people who had not improved from an earlier treatment. About one third of patients are treatment non-responders. The review found psychotherapy produced a medium-to-large overall benefit for these people, and the benefits were maintained at follow-up. The analysis did…
