Effects of Brief Mindfulness-Based Interventions on Health-Related Outcomes: a Systematic Review

By A. Howarth, Jared G. Smith, L. Perkins-Porras, M. Ussher. Mindfulness, 2019

184 citations recorded by the source corpus.

ObjectivesTraditional mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been applied successfully across many populations. The time commitment for these programs is often a barrier, and while brief MBIs have become popular, the impact of these on health-related outcomes is unclear as they have not yet been reviewed.MethodsA search of databases, including Medline, Embase, and PsycINFO, was conducted with qualitative and case studies being excluded. Findings were summarized using a narrative approach for all studies that met the inclusion criteria.ResultsWith one exception, all 85 studies that were included were randomized controlled trials and were relatively robust methodologically. Seventy-nine reported significant positive effects on at least one health-related outcome and over a quarter targeted a clinical population. The majority of studies focused on psychological outcomes, such as anxiety and depression, as well as emotion regulation, stress, and cognitive outcomes.ConclusionsDespite heterogeneity of outcomes across studies, there is evidence that brief MBIs can impact numerous health-related outcomes, after only one session and with interventions as brief as 5 min. These interventions have the potential to be the initial steps leading to sustainable and positive health outcomes.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/d8aab82c389c188d38abd665904d5f2e8af4d038