The efficacy of meditation-based mind-body interventions for mental disorders: A meta-review of 17 meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials


Author: Davy Vancampfort1, Brendon Stubbs2, Tine Van Damme3, Lee Smith4, Mats Hallgren5, Felipe Schuch6, Jeroen Deenik7, Simon Rosenbaum8, Garcia Ashdown-Franks9, James Mugisha10, Joseph Firth11

Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> KU Leuven Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Leuven, Belgium; University Psychiatric Centre KU Leuven, Kortenberg, Belgium. Electronic address: davy.vancampfort@kuleuven.be.

<sup>2</sup> South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Denmark Hill, London, UK; Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London, London, UK.

<sup>3</sup> KU Leuven Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Leuven, Belgium.

<sup>4</sup> Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK.

<sup>5</sup> Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institute, Sweden.

<sup>6</sup> Department of Sports Methods and Techniques, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil.

<sup>7</sup> School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.

<sup>8</sup> School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

<sup>9</sup> Department of Exercise Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

<sup>10</sup> Department of Arts and Social Administration, Kyambogo University, Kampala, Uganda.

<sup>11</sup> NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Westmead, Australia; Division of Psychology and Mental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Conference/Journal: J Psychiatr Res
Date published: 2020 Dec 21
Other:
 Volume ID: 134   ,  Pages: 181-191   ,  Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.12.048.   ,  Word Count: 253  
    There is increasing interest in the potential efficacy of meditation-based mind-body interventions (MBIs) within mental health care. We conducted a systematic metareview of the published randomized control trial (RCT) evidence. MEDLINE/PubMed, PsycARTICLES and EMBASE were searched from inception to 06/2020 examining MBIs (mindfulness, qigong, tai chi, yoga) as add-on or monotherapy versus no treatment, minimal treatment and passive and active control conditions in people with a mental disorder. The quality of the methods of the included meta-analyses using A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) and the methodological quality of the RCTs using AMSTAR-Plus. Sixteen (94%) of 17 meta-analyses had good overall methodological quality. The content validity of the included RCTs was considered good in 9 (53%) meta-analyses. In meta-analyses with good methodological quality (AMSTAR 8≤) and content validity (AMSTAR+ 4≤), large effect sizes (0.80 or higher) were observed for mindfulness in schizophrenia and in ADHD, a moderate (0.50 ≤ 0.80) effect size for mindfulness in PTSD and a small (0.20 < 0.50) effect size for yoga in schizophrenia No serious adverse events were reported (n RCTs = 43, n in the MBI arms = 1774), while the attrition rates were comparable with the rates in passive and active control conditions. Our meta-review demonstrates that mindfulness and to a lesser extent yoga may serve as an efficacious supplement to pharmacotherapy, and psychotherapy and can be complementary in healthy lifestyle interventions for people with mental disorders. Meta-analytic evidence of high methodological quality and content validity of included trials is currently lacking for qigong and tai chi.



Keywords: ADHD; Depression; Mindfulness; Qigong; Schizophrenia; Tai chi; Yoga.



PMID: 33388701 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.12.048