Mindfulness mediates the physiological markers of stress: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Meditation is a popular form of stress management, argued to mediate stress reactivity. However, many studies in this field commonly fail to include an active control group. Given the frequency with which people are selecting meditation as a form of self-management, it is important to validate if th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of psychiatric research Vol. 95; pp. 156 - 178
Main Authors: Pascoe, Michaela C., Thompson, David R., Jenkins, Zoe M., Ski, Chantal F.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2017
Subjects:
Anxiety
Blood Pressure - physiology
Cytokines - blood
Depression
Heart Rate - physiology
Humans
Hydrocortisone - metabolism
Inflammation
Meditation
Mindfulness
Mood
Stress
Stress, Psychological - blood
Stress, Psychological - physiopathology
Stress, Psychological - therapy
Depression
Anxiety
Inflammation
Mood
Meditation
Stress
ISSN:0022-3956, 1879-1379, 1879-1379
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Meditation is a popular form of stress management, argued to mediate stress reactivity. However, many studies in this field commonly fail to include an active control group. Given the frequency with which people are selecting meditation as a form of self-management, it is important to validate if the practice is effective in mediating stress-reactivity using well-controlled studies. Thus, we aimed to conduct a meta-analysis investigating the neurobiological effects of meditation, including focused attention, open monitoring and automatic self-transcending subtypes, compared to an active control, on markers of stress. In the current meta-analysis and systematic review, we included randomised controlled trials comparing meditation interventions compared to an active control on physiological markers of stress. Studied outcomes include cortisol, blood pressure, heart-rate, lipids and peripheral cytokine expression. Forty-five studies were included. All meditation subtypes reduced systolic blood pressure. Focused attention meditations also reduced cortisol and open monitoring meditations also reduced heart rate. When all meditation forms were analysed together, meditation reduced cortisol, C - reactive protein, blood pressure, heart rate, triglycerides and tumour necrosis factor-alpha. Overall, meditation practice leads to decreased physiological markers of stress in a range of populations. •Meta-analysis of randomised control trails of meditation versus active control.•Physiological markers of stress assessed.•45 studies including all populations reviewed.•Meditation reduced cortisol, systolic blood pressure, and heart rate.
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ISSN:0022-3956
1879-1379
1879-1379
DOI:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2017.08.004