PsychologyNature Human Behaviour

Self-administered mindfulness interventions reduce stress in a large, randomized controlled multi-site study

A. Sparacio, H. Ijzerman, et al.

This study, conducted by a diverse team of researchers, explores the effectiveness of four self-administered mindfulness exercises in reducing stress among participants. Utilizing advanced Bayesian mixed-effects models, the findings reveal that these exercises significantly outperform an active control condition, with the body scan exercise showing the most remarkable stress reduction. Join us in discovering how mindfulness may help alleviate stress for English speakers from higher-income countries.... show more

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Abstract

Mindfulness witnessed a substantial popularity surge in the past decade, especially as digitally self-administered interventions became available at relatively low costs. Yet, it is uncertain whether they effectively help reduce stress. In a preregistered (OSF https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/UF4JZ; retrospective registration at Clinical Trials.gov NCT06308744) multi-site study (n_sites = 37, N_participants = 2,239, 70.4% women, M_age = 22.4, s.d._age = 10.1, all fluent English speakers), we experimentally tested whether four single, standalone mindfulness exercises effectively reduced stress, using Bayesian mixed-effects models. All exercises proved to be more efficacious than the active control. We observed a mean difference of 0.27 (d = −0.56; 95% confidence interval, −0.43 to −0.69) between the control condition (M = 1.95, s.d. = 0.50) and the condition with the largest stress reduction (body scan: M = 1.68, s.d. = 0.46). Our findings suggest that mindfulness may be beneficial for reducing self-reported short-term stress for English speakers from higher-income countries.

Publisher

Nature Human Behaviour

Published On

Sep 01, 2024

Authors

Alessandro Sparacio, Hans IJzerman, Ivan Ropovik, Filippo Giorgini, Christoph Spiessens, Bert N. Uchino, Joshua Landvatter, Tracey Tacana, Sandra J. Diller, Jaye L. Derrick, Joahana Segundo, Jace D. Pierce, Robert M. Ross, Zoë Francis, Amanda LaBoucane, Christine Ma-Kellams, Maire B. Ford, Kathleen Schmidt, Celia C. Wong, Wendy C. Higgins, Bryant M. Stone, Samantha K. Stanley, Gianni Ribeiro, Paul T. Fuglestad, Valerie Jaklin, Andrea Kübler, Philipp Ziebell, Crystal L. Jewell, Yulia Kovas, Mahnoosh Allahghadri, Charlotte Fransham, Michael F. Baranski, Hannah Burgess, Annika B. E. Benz, Maysa DeSousa, Catherine E. Nylin, Janae C. Brooks, Caitlyn M. Goldsmith, Jessica M. Benson, Siobhán M. Griffin, Stephen Dunne, William E. Davis, Tam J. Watermeyer, William B. Meese, Jennifer L. Howell, Laurel Standiford Reyes, Megan G. Strickland, Sally S. Dickerson, Samantha Pescatore, Shayna Skakoon-Sparling, Zachary I. Wunder, Martin V. Day, Shawna Brenton, Audrey H. Linden, Christopher E. Hawk, Léan V. O'Brien, Tenzin Urgyen, Jennifer S. McDonald, Kim Lien van der Schans, Heidi Blocker, Caroline Ng Tseung-Wong, Gabriela M. Jiga-Boy

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01907-7

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