Trial reportBehaviour research and therapy2012
The validation of an active control intervention for Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).
Trial report in Behaviour research and therapy, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 142 papers, 14 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Effect of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on Pain and Function in Persons With Knee Osteoarthritis
Meditation Versus Education for Improving Depression in Chronic Pain, a Randomized Controlled Trial
Feasibility of a Mental-Health Intervention Based on Contemplative Sleep Practices
Who cites it
142 citing papers in PubMed, 14 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The effect of mindfulness meditation on depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2024Pooled it
- A meta-analytical review of the impact of mindfulness on creativity: Framing current lines of research and defining moderator variables.Psychonomic bulletin & review · 2023Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of acceptance- and mindfulness-based interventions for DSM-5 anxiety disorders.Scientific reports · 2021Pooled it
- Mindfulness-based programmes for mental health promotion in adults in nonclinical settings: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.PLoS medicine · 2021Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of mindfulness- and acceptance-based interventions for affect intolerance/sensitivity.Behaviour research and therapy · 2020Pooled it
- Differential sensitivity of mindfulness questionnaires to change with treatment: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychological assessment · 2019Pooled it
- Research Review: The effects of mindfulness-based interventions on cognition and mental health in children and adolescents - a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2019Pooled it
- Brief mindfulness training for negative affectivity: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2018Pooled it
- Mindfulness Meditation for Primary Headache Pain: A Meta-Analysis.Chinese medical journal · 2018Pooled it
- Home practice in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction: A systematic review and meta-analysis of participants' mindfulness practice and its association with outcomes.Behaviour research and therapy · 2017Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Mindfulness meditation and the immune system: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2016Pooled it
- Mind-body practices: an alternative, drug-free treatment for smoking cessation? A systematic review of the literature.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2013Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Mindfulness-based stress reduction and loneliness in older adults: two randomized controlled trials.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2025Trial
- Effects of mindfulness breathing meditation on stress and cognitive functions: a heart rate variability and eye-tracking study.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Autonomic modulation with mindfulness-based stress reduction in chronic kidney disease: a randomized controlled trial.The Journal of physiology · 2025Trial
- A Multi-Site, Randomized, Parallel-Group, Controlled Trial of Virtually-Delivered Sahaj Samadhi Meditation for the Management of Moderate Depressive Symptoms in Chronic Pain.Journal of pain research · 2025Trial
- Resting state functional connectivity changes following mindfulness-based stress reduction predict improvements in disease control for patients with asthma.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2024Trial
- Slower respiration rate is associated with higher self-reported well-being after wellness training.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
82 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Most of the extant literature investigating the health effects of mindfulness interventions relies on wait-list control comparisons. The current article specifies and validates an active control condition, the Health Enhancement Program (HEP), thus providing the foundation necessary for rigorous investigations of the relative efficacy of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and for testing mindfulness as an active ingredient. 63 participants were randomized to either MBSR (n = 31) or HEP (n = 32). Compared to HEP, MBSR led to reductions in thermal pain ratings in the mindfulness- but not the HEP-related instruction condition (η(2) = .18). There were significant improvements over time for general distress (η(2) = .09), anxiety (η(2) = .08), hostility (η(2) = .07), and medical symptoms (η(2) = .14), but no effects of intervention. Practice was not related to change. HEP is an active control condition for MBSR while remaining inert to mindfulness. These claims are supported by results from a pain task. Participant-reported outcomes (PROs) replicate previous improvements to well-being in MBSR, but indicate that MBSR is no more effective than a rigorous active control in improving these indices. These results emphasize the importance of using an active control condition like HEP in studies evaluating the effectiveness of MBSR.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.