Comparing Mindful and Non-Mindful Exercises on Alleviating Anxiety Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Author: Wendy Wing Yan So1, Erin Yiqing Lu1, Wai Ming Cheung2, Hector Wing Hong Tsang1
Affiliation:
1 Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong.
2 Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
Conference/Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health
Date published: 2020 Nov 23
Other:
Volume ID: 17 , Issue ID: 22 , Pages: 8692 , Special Notes: doi: 10.3390/ijerph17228692. , Word Count: 212
Background:
In recent years, studies and reviews have reported the therapeutic benefits of both mindful and non-mindful exercises in reducing anxiety. However, there have not been any systematic reviews to compare their relative effectiveness for therapeutic application, especially among the non-clinical population. Thus, the aim of this review is to compare the effectiveness between mindful and non-mindful exercise on treating anxiety among non-clinical samples.
Methods:
Potential articles were retrieved from PubMed, Embase, Academic Search Premier, and PsycInfo. Randomized controlled trials, which involved both mindful and non-mindful exercises as intervention, and the use of anxiety outcome measures were included.
Results:
Twenty-four studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in our systematic review. In addition, 14 studies provided sufficient data to be included in the meta-analysis. For studies that reported significant group differences at post-assessment, results showed that mindful exercise was more beneficial in reducing anxiety than non-mindful exercise. The meta-analysis reported that yoga was more effective in reducing anxiety than non-mindful exercise.
Conclusions:
Compared to non-mindful exercise, yoga is shown to be more effective in alleviating anxiety symptoms. It is recommended that yoga could be used as a primary healthcare intervention to help the public reduce anxiety.
Keywords: anxiety; mindful exercise; physical exercise; primary health care; qigong; yoga.
PMID: 33238594 PMCID: PMC7700675 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17228692
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