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.
MBSR is able to reduce stress levels in healthy people. However, important limitations of the included studies as well as the paucity of evidence about possible specific effects of MBSR in comparison to other nonspecific treatments underline the necessity of further research.
This systematic review of research up to 2024 found that meditation and mindfulness are linked to measurable brain changes and to better emotional regulation, cognition, and stress resilience. Many studies report thicker cortex in certain areas, lower amygdala reactivity, changes in brain connectivity and neurotransmitters, and improvements in anxiety, depression,…
The authors reviewed 14 randomized trials to see if doing only body scan meditation helps people. A pooled analysis found a small improvement in mindfulness compared with passive control (Hedge's g = 0.268, 95% CI 0.032 to 0.504, p < .05). However, the studies were low quality, results varied a…
This study combined results from 14 research papers to see whether mindfulness programs help adults with ADHD. The pooled data covered 834 adults and came from searches of PsycINFO, PubMed, SCOPUS, and ERIC up to July 2019. Overall, the meta-analysis found that mindfulness-based interventions reduced ADHD symptoms, lowered depression, and…
This review looked at short, single-session psychological techniques aimed at lowering state anxiety. The authors found 12 randomized trials and reported that cognitive and embodiment exercises tended to reduce anxiety, while breathing-only exercises gave mixed results. Combined approaches like mindfulness showed moderate benefits when they used passive attention, but results…
