In-person mindfulness courses help improve mental health for at least
six months

Date:
July 10, 2023
Source:
University of Cambridge
Summary:
In-person mindfulness courses help improve mental health for at
least six months, study shows. Adults who voluntarily take part
in mindfulness courses are less likely to experience symptoms of
anxiety and depression for at least six months after completing the
programs, compared to adults who do not take part, a new analysis
pooling data from 13 studies has confirmed.


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FULL STORY ========================================================================== Adults who voluntarily take part in mindfulness courses are less likely
to experience symptoms of anxiety and depression for at least six months
after completing the programmes, compared to adults who do not take part,
a new analysis pooling data from 13 studies has confirmed.

University of Cambridge researchers looked at participants of group-based
and teacher-led mindfulness courses, conducted in person and offered in community settings.

They say the results, published in the journal Nature Mental Health,
should encourage uptake of similar teacher-led programmes in workplaces
and educational institutions keen to help prevent mental health problems developing in members of their community.

"In our previous work it was still not clear whether these mindfulness
courses could promote mental health across different community settings,"
said lead researcher, Dr Julieta Galante, who conducted the research
while at the University of Cambridge. "This study is the highest quality confirmation so far that the in-person mindfulness courses typically
offered in the community do actually work for the average person."
Mindfulness in these courses is typically defined as "the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment,
and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment."
These courses, formally known as mindfulness-based programmes (MBPs),
often combine elements of meditation, body awareness and modern
psychology, and are designed to help reduce stress, improve wellbeing,
and enhance mental and emotional "resilience." They consist of groups
of participants led by mindfulness teachers, who promote reflection and
sharing over several one-to- two hour sessions.

The body of research into the effectiveness of MBPs to date has been
mixed.

Cambridge researchers sought to confirm the effect of MBPs on
psychological distress -- which encompasses disturbing or unpleasant
mental or emotional experiences including symptoms of anxiety and
depression.

They pooled and analysed data from 2,371 adults who had taken part in
trials to assess the effectiveness of MBPs. Roughly half the participants
had been randomly allocated places on mindfulness programmes that lasted
for eight weeks, with a one- to two-and-a-half hour session per week and compared them to those that were not through self-reported questionnaires.

The study found that MBPs generated a small to moderate reduction in
adults' psychological distress, with 13% more participants seeing a
benefit than those who did not attend an MBP.

The researchers found that existing psychological distress, age, gender, educational level and a disposition towards mindfulness did not change
the effectiveness of MBPs.

Galante said: "We've confirmed that if adults choose to do a mindfulness
course in person, with a teacher and offered in a group setting, this
will, on average, be beneficial in terms of helping to reduce their psychological distress which will improve their mental health. However,
we are not saying that it should be done by every single person; research
shows that it just doesn't work for some people.

"We're also not saying you should absolutely choose a mindfulness
class instead of something else you might benefit from, for example
a football club -- we have no evidence that mindfulness is better than
other feel-good practices but if you're not doing anything, these types of mindfulness courses are certainly among the options that can be helpful."
The researchers conducted a systematic review to select previous studies
for inclusion in their large-scale analysis. They obtained complete but anonymised data from 13 trials representing eight countries. The median
age was 34 years- old, while 71% of participants were women.

While mindfulness apps are on the rise, researchers remain unsure whether
it is the practice of mindfulness that reduces psychological distress, or
the fact that courses involve in-person group-work with a teacher present.

"Apps may be cheaper, but there is nowhere near the same evidence base for their effectiveness," said Galante. "Some apps may say they are evidenced based, but they are often referring to trials that are in-person with a
teacher and a group." The effectiveness of smartphone apps, as well as
what happens when people continue to practice mindfulness meditation by themselves, will be investigated by Galante, who has recently taken up
a new position as Deputy Director of the Contemplative Studies Centre,
at the University of Melbourne.

"If you are offered an in-person four- or eight-week mindfulness course
in a group setting with a teacher, and you are curious about it, I'd
say based on this study, just go ahead and try it," said Galante. "And
for organisations wondering about offering these types of mindfulness
courses to members of their community -- this research suggests it
may be a good investment if their communities express an interest."
This research was funded by the National Institute for Health Research.

* RELATED_TOPICS
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# Mental_Health_Research # Healthy_Aging #
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o Mind_&_Brain
# Mental_Health # Spirituality # Depression #
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========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Julieta Galante, Claire Friedrich, Napaporn Aeamla-Or, Marieke
Arts-de
Jong, Bruce Barrett, Susan M. Bo"gels, Jan K. Buitelaar, Mary M.

Checovich, Michael S. Christopher, Richard J. Davidson,
Antonia Errazuriz, Simon B. Goldberg, Corina U. Greven, Matthew
J. Hirshberg, Shu-Ling Huang, Matthew Hunsinger, Yoon-Suk Hwang,
Peter B. Jones, Oleg N. Medvedev, Melissa A. Rosenkranz, Melanie
P. J. Schellekens, Nienke M.

Siebelink, Nirbhay N. Singh, Anne E. M. Speckens, Feng-Cheng
Tang, Lianne Tomfohr-Madsen, Tim Dalgleish, Peter B. Jones,
Ian R. White. Systematic review and individual participant
data meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials assessing
mindfulness-based programs for mental health promotion. Nature
Mental Health, 2023; 1 (7): 462 DOI: 10.1038/s44220- 023-00081-5 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230710113911.htm

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