Implications of a “Null” Randomized Controlled Trial of Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions in Healthy Adults
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2023-04-21
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Final Accepted Manuscript
Author
Kaplan, Deanna M.Mehl, Matthias R.
Pace, Thaddeus W. W.
Negi, Lobsang Tenzin
Silva, Brendan Ozawa-de
Lavelle, Brooke D.
Sivilli, Teri
Williams, Allison
Comstock, Tom
Price, Bryan
Medrano, Vicente
Robbins, Megan L.
Cole, Steven P.
Craighead, W. Edward
Raison, Charles L.
Affiliation
Department of Psychology, University of ArizonaDepartment of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Arizona
College of Nursing, University of Arizona
Issue Date
2022-04-21
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Springer Science and Business Media LLCCitation
Kaplan, D. M., Mehl, M. R., Pace, T. W. W., Negi, L. T., Silva, B. O.-D., Lavelle, B. D., Sivilli, T., Williams, A., Comstock, T., Price, B., Medrano, V., Robbins, M. L., Cole, S. P., Craighead, W. E., & Raison, C. L. (2022). Implications of a “Null” Randomized Controlled Trial of Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions in Healthy Adults. Mindfulness.Journal
MindfulnessRights
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2022.Collection Information
This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu.Abstract
Objectives: Extensive research suggests that short-term meditation interventions may hold therapeutic promise for a wide range of psychosocial outcomes. In response to calls to subject these interventions to more methodologically rigorous tests, a randomized controlled trial tested the effectiveness of a mindfulness meditation intervention and a compassion meditation intervention against an active control in a demographically diverse sample of medically and psychiatrically healthy adults. Methods: Two hundred and four participants completed a battery of questionnaires to assess psychological experience, participated in a laboratory stress test to measure their biological stress reactivity, and wore the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR) to assess daily behaviors before and after an eight-week intervention (mindfulness meditation intervention, compassion meditation intervention, or health education discussion group). Results: Neither meditation intervention reliably impacted participants’ subjective psychological experience, biological stress reactivity, or objectively assessed daily behaviors. Furthermore, post hoc moderation analyses found that neither baseline distress nor intervention engagement significantly moderated effects. Conclusions: Results from this trial—which was methodologically rigorous and powered to detect all but small effects—were essentially null. These results are an important data point for the body of research about meditation interventions. Implications of these non-significant effects are discussed in the context of prior studies, and future directions for contemplative intervention research are recommended. Clinical Trial Registry: Registry Number: NCT01643369.Note
12 month embargo; published: 21 April 2022ISSN
1868-8527EISSN
1868-8535Version
Final accepted manuscriptSponsors
Foundation for the National Institutes of Healthae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1007/s12671-022-01861-3