Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Aug:28:179-183.
doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.12.022. Epub 2019 Jan 4.

The next generation of mindfulness-based intervention research: what have we learned and where are we headed?

Melissa A Rosenkranz  1 , John D Dunne  2 , Richard J Davidson  2
Affiliations
Review

The next generation of mindfulness-based intervention research: what have we learned and where are we headed?

Melissa A Rosenkranz et al. Curr Opin Psychol. 2019 Aug.

Abstract

The previous two decades have seen an exponential increase in the number of published scientific investigations on the efficacy of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) training to improve function in a wide range of physical and psychological processes. The resulting body of work provides strong evidence that MBSR has salubrious effects. Yet, when compared directly to groups with training that matches MBSR in factors common to most legitimate interventions, such as learning new skills, expectation of benefit, social engagement and support, and attention from expert instructors, both groups tend to improve to a similar extent. This raises the question of whether there are benefits that are specific to training in mindfulness and if so, why are we not detecting them? Here, we discuss the factors that contribute to the general lack of differentiation between MBSR and active control groups, including the specificity of outcome measures and experimental design, random assignment, inclusion/exclusion criteria, and the time course and trajectory of change. In addition, we offer recommendations to address these factors in future research.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest

Dr. Richard J. Davidson is the founder, president, and serves on the board of directors for the non-profit organization, Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc. In addition, Dr. Davidson served on the board of directors for the Mind & Life Institute from 1992–2017. Dr. Rosenkranz and Prof. Dunne have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Khoury B, Sharma M, Rush SE & Fournier C Mindfulness-based stress reduction for healthy individuals: A meta-analysis. J. Psychosom. Res 78, 519–28 (2015). - PubMed
    1. Gotink RA et al. Standardised mindfulness-based interventions in healthcare: An overview of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of RCTs. PLoS One 10, 1–17 (2015). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fjorback LO, Arendt M, Ornbol E, Fink P & Walach H Mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy - a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Acta Psychiatr. Scand 124, 102–119 (2011). - PubMed
    1. Lakhan SE & Schofield KL Mindfulness-Based Therapies in the Treatment of Somatization Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. PLoS One 8, (2013). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Katterman SN, Kleinman BM, Hood MM, Nackers LM & Corsica JA Mindfulness meditation as an intervention for binge eating, emotional eating, and weight loss: A systematic review. Eat. Behav 15, 197–204 (2014). - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms