Effects of mindfulness exercises as stand-alone intervention on symptoms of anxiety and depression: Systematic review and meta-analysis.
Author: Blanck P1, Perleth S2, Heidenreich T3, Kröger P2, Ditzen B4, Bents H2, Mander J5
Affiliation:
1Center for Psychological Psychotherapy, University of Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address: paul.blanck@zpp.uni-hd.de.
2Center for Psychological Psychotherapy, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
3Department for Social Work, Health and Care, University of Applied Sciences Esslingen, Germany.
4Institute of Medical Psychology, Center for Psychosocial Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
5Center for Psychological Psychotherapy, University of Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address: johannes.mander@zpp.uni-hd.de.
Conference/Journal: Behav Res Ther.
Date published: 2017 Dec 20
Other:
Volume ID: 102 , Pages: 25-35 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2017.12.002. [Epub ahead of print] , Word Count: 162
Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are currently well established in psychotherapy with meta-analyses demonstrating their efficacy. In these multifaceted interventions, the concrete performance of mindfulness exercises is typically integrated in a larger therapeutic framework. Thus, it is unclear whether stand-alone mindfulness exercises (SAMs) without such a framework are beneficial, as well. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis regarding the effects of SAMs on symptoms of anxiety and depression. Systematic searching of electronic databases resulted in 18 eligible studies (n = 1150) for meta-analyses. After exclusion of one outlier SAMs had small to medium effects on anxiety (SMD = 0.39; CI: 0.22, 0.56; PI: 0.07, 0.70; p < .001, I2 = 18.90%) and on depression (SMD = 0.41; CI: 0.19, 0.64; PI: -0.05, 0.88; p < .001; I2 = 33.43%), when compared with controls. Summary effect estimates decreased, but remained significant when corrected for potential publication bias. This is the first meta-analysis to show that the mere, regular performance of mindfulness exercises is beneficial, even without being integrated in larger therapeutic frameworks.
KEYWORDS: Anxiety; Depression; Meta-analysis; Mindfulness; Stand-alone intervention
PMID: 29291584 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2017.12.002
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