Mindfulness-Based Programs: Effective Mental Health Promotion and Recovery

A systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) for mental health promotion found that MBPs reduced average psychological distress between 1 and 6 months post-intervention with a small to moderate effect size. The study also explored whether baseline distress, gender, age, education, and dispositional mindfulness modified the effect of MBPs on distress, but no clear indications of modification were found. The results suggest that group-based teacher-led MBPs generally reduce psychological distress among volunteering community adults, but more research is needed to identify sources of variability in outcomes at an individual level.