Lim D., Condon P., & DeSteno D. (2015). Mindfulness and compassion: An examination of mechanism and scalability. PLoS ONE, 10(2), Article e0118221. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0118221

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 56

Population:

• Age — Mean=19.4 years
• Race/Ethnicity — Not specified
• Gender — 30 Female and 26 Male
• Status — Participants were university students.

Location/Institution: Northeastern University

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of mindfulness meditation on empathic accuracy and prosociality removed from concerns involving demand. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions: (1) a three-week mindfulness-based meditation condition that involved regularly completing a meditation session using a self-administered and self-guided web-based application (now called Headspace), or (2) an active control group which involved the use of a three-week web-based cognitive training program that was also self-administered and self-guided (Lumosity). Measures utilized include the Emotion Recognition Index, and compassionate responding was assessed through an experiment by whether participants gave up their seats to allow an individual using crutches and wearing a large walk boot to sit, thereby relieving her pain. Results indicate that participants assigned to the mindfulness meditation condition, gave up their seats more frequently than did those assigned to the active control group. In addition, empathic accuracy was not increased by mindfulness practice. Limitations include that all participants were university students, limiting the generalizability to other populations, and lack of follow-up.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.

DeSteno, D., Lim, D., Duong, F., & Condon, P. (2018). Meditation inhibits aggressive responses to provocations. Mindfulness, 9(4), 1117–1122. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0847-2

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 46

Population:

• Age — 18–24 years
• Race/Ethnicity — Not specified
• Gender — Not specified
• Status — Participants were native English speakers who had no prior meditation experience.

Location/Institution: Not specified

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
he purpose of the study was report on an experiment in which participants were randomly assigned to a mindfulness meditation or active control condition 3 weeks prior to facing a real-time provocation known to evoke aggression. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (1) a 3-week online mindfulness-based meditation program that was self-administered via the Headspace app, or (2) an active control group which involved the completion of logic problems on a daily basis for 3 weeks. Measures utilized include the Stroop task and a video task that has been shown to be effective in evoking anger, aggression, and related physiological changes. Results indicate that 3 weeks of daily meditation practice substantially reduced aggressive behavior even in the absence of any enhanced executive control capabilities. Limitations include that without including a passive control condition (i.e., one in which participants experienced a provocation without having taken part in any type of training), firm conclusions about baseline levels of aggression are not possible, and the small sample size.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.

Noone, C., & Hogan, M. J. (2018). A randomised active-controlled trial to examine the effects of an online mindfulness intervention on executive control, critical thinking and key thinking dispositions in a university student sample. BMC Psychology, 6, Article 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-018-0226-3

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 91

Population:

• Age — Mean=20.92 years
• Race/Ethnicity — Not specified
• Gender — 69 Female and 20 Male
• Status — Participants were university students.

Location/Institution: National University of Ireland, Galway

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to test the benefits of mindfulness practice for critical thinking in higher education by investigating the effects of an online mindfulness intervention on executive function, critical thinking skills, and associated thinking dispositions. Participants were randomly allocated, following screening, to either a mindfulness meditation group or a sham meditation group. The intervention content for both groups was delivered through the Headspace online application. Measures utilized include the Modified Mini Screen (OASAS), the Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment (HCTA), the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), the Warwick-Edinburgh mental wellbeing scale, the Real World Outcomes Inventory Checklist, Practice quality - mindfulness questionnaire, the Need for cognition scale, the Actively open-minded thinking scale, and the Technology Acceptance Model questionnaire (TAM). Results indicate that significant increases in mindfulness dispositions and critical thinking scores were observed in both the mindfulness meditation and sham meditation groups. However, no significant effects of group allocation were observed for either primary or secondary measures. Furthermore, meditation analyses testing the indirect effect of group allocation through executive functioning performance did not reveal a significant result and moderation analyses showed that the effect of the intervention did not depend on baseline levels of the key thinking dispositions, actively open-minded thinking and need for cognition. Limitations include that participants in the sham meditation group only received one guided program while those in the control group received progressive guided mindfulness meditations; cannot reasonably conclude anything about the relationship between mindfulness and critical thinking except that this approach to learning mindfulness does not enhance either dispositional mindfulness or critical thinking; and the active nature of the control condition, and its similarity to the intervention condition, had a beneficial effect on mindfulness and other primary outcomes.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.

Flett, J. A. M., Fletcher, B. D., Riordan, B. C., Patterson, T., Hayne, H., & Conner, T. S. (2019). The peril of self-reported adherence in digital interventions: A brief example. Internet Interventions, 18, Article 100267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2019.100267

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 174

Population:

• Age — Mean=19.76 years
• Race/Ethnicity — 74% New Zealand European, 12% Asian, 9% Other, and 6% Māori or Pacific Islander
• Gender — 80% Female
• Status — Participants were university students.

Location/Institution: University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to determine whether there was a discrepancy between self-report adherence and objective adherence in a digital mindfulness meditation randomized, controlled trial. Participants were randomly assigned to use one of the three apps: Headspace, Smiling Mind, or Evernote (control group). Measures utilized include the 20-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale–Anxiety Subscale (HADS-A), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the 6-item Brief Resilience Scale, the 8-item Flourishing Scale, the 19-item College Adjustment Test, and the 12-item Cognitive Affective Mindfulness Scale–Revised, and self-reported and objective adherence were operationalized as the number of intervention sessions completed. Results indicate that there was evidence of inflated self-reported adherence to the app-based intervention. Limitations include that the sample was a convenience sample of healthy undergraduate students, findings cannot be extrapolated to a clinical sample, due to sample size findings are underpowered to detect between-group differences, and reliance on self-reported measures.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.

Flett, J. A. M., Hayne, H., Riordan, B. C., Thompson, L. M., & Conner, T. S. (2019). Mobile mindfulness meditation: A randomised controlled trial of the effect of two popular apps on mental health. Mindfulness, 10(5), 863–876. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-018-1050-9

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 208

Population:

• Age — 18–49 years (Mean=20.08 years)
• Race/Ethnicity — 74% New Zealand European, 12% Asian, 9% Other, and 6% Māori or Pacific Islander
• Gender — Not specified
• Status — Participants were university students.

Location/Institution: University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to present the results of a pre-registered randomized controlled trial (RCT) that tested whether two smartphone-based mindfulness meditation applications (apps) lead to improvements in mental health. Participants were randomly assigned to use one of the three apps: Headspace, Smiling Mind, or Evernote (control group). Measures utilized include the 20-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale–Anxiety Subscale (HADS-A), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the 6-item Brief Resilience Scale, the 8-item Flourishing Scale, the 19-item College Adjustment Test, and the 12-item Cognitive Affective Mindfulness Scale–Revised. Results indicate that Mindfulness app users showed significant improvements in depressive symptoms, college adjustment, resilience (Smiling Mind only), and mindfulness (Headspace only) from baseline to the end of 10 days relative to control participants. Participants who continued to use the app frequently were more likely to maintain improvements in mental health, e.g. in depressive symptoms and resilience (Headspace only), until the end of the 30-day period. Limitations include that the sample was a convenience sample of healthy undergraduate students, findings cannot be extrapolated to a clinical sample, due to sample size findings are underpowered to detect between-group differences, and reliance on self-reported measures.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.

Kirk, U., Wieghorst, A., Nielsen, C. M., & Staiano, W. (2019) On-the-spot binaural beats and mindfulness reduces behavioral markers of mind wandering. Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, 3(2), 186–192. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41465-018-0114-z

Type of Study: Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants: 77

Population:

• Age — Mindfulness Group: Mean=23.2 years; Binaural Beats Group: Mean= 22.8 years; Non-Intervention Control: Mean= 22.5 years
• Race/Ethnicity — Not specified
• Gender — Mindfulness Group: 13 Female; Binaural Beats Group: 13 Female; Non-Intervention Control: 12 Female
• Status — Participants were university students.

Location/Institution: University of Southern Denmark

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to investigate in a university student population whether laboratory evidence of mind wandering can be reduced through two on-the-spot interventions. Participants were randomly assigned to mindfulness meditation for 15 min (Headspace), binaural auditory beats for a duration of 15 min, or to a no-intervention control group. Measures utilized include the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Results indicate that short-term or on-the-spot mindfulness session (Headspace) for 15 min is successful in significantly reducing laboratory evidence of mind wandering. Results indicate that 15 min of auditory binaural beats also lead to a significant reduction of mind wandering, whereas the control group did not result in differences. There were no observed differences in mind wandering across the three groups at baseline or differences in stress levels across groups. Limitations include lack of an active control or sham on-the-spot intervention, and intervention groups were given 15 mins away from the stress of everyday life before the SART test at T2, whereas the control group did not have this break.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.