Meditation Based Therapies - A Systematic Review and Some Critical Observations

This article systematically reviews the evidence for Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and analyses the conditions around their rising popularity. MBSR, MBCT and Mindfulness Meditation were used as key words. The inclusion criteria were randomiz...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Religions
Authors: Fjorback, Lone Overby (Author) ; Walach, Harald 1957- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: MDPI [2012]
In: Religions
Further subjects:B Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy
B Mindfulness meditation
B Systematic Review
B mindfulness-based stress reduction
B randomized controlled trials
B sense of meaning
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:This article systematically reviews the evidence for Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and analyses the conditions around their rising popularity. MBSR, MBCT and Mindfulness Meditation were used as key words. The inclusion criteria were randomized controlled trials using the standard MBSR/MBCT program with a minimum of 33 participants. Twenty four studies were included. MBSR improved mental health in ten studies compared to waitlist control or treatment as usual. Moreover, MBSR was as efficacious as active control group in four studies, and showed a tendency over active control in one study. MBCT reduced the risk of depressive relapse in all five included studies. Evidence supports that MBSR improves mental health and MBCT prevents depressive relapse. It is interesting to observe that meditation based therapy programs are rapidly enjoying popularity. We discuss the cultural and theoretical implications.
ISSN:2077-1444
Contains:Enthalten in: Religions
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.3390/rel3010001