Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25591492›Full record

SynthesisPsychosomatics

Critical analysis of the efficacy of meditation therapies for acute and subacute phase treatment of depressive disorders: a systematic review.

Felipe A Jain, Roger N Walsh, Stuart J Eisendrath, Scott Christensen, B Rael Cahn

Open access · greenAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Psychosomatics. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
22citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
6.8field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 63 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  4. Identifying mechanisms that link pain to smoking relapse during a quit attempt.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2021
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  11. A perspective of yoga on smartphone addiction: A narrative review.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2022
    Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Felipe A JainDepartment of Psychiatry, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, CA (FAJ, SC). Electronic address: fjain@mednet.ucla.edu.
Roger N WalshDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, Irvine, CA (RNW).
Stuart J EisendrathDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, CA (SJE).
Scott ChristensenDepartment of Psychiatry, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, CA (FAJ, SC).
B Rael CahnDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (BRC); Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (BRC).
University of California, Los Angeles · USUniversity of California, Irvine · USUniversity of California, San Francisco · USUniversity of Southern California · US

Funding

Applying Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy to Treatment-Resistant DepressionR01AT004572 · NCCIH · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI EISENDRATH, STUART JAMES · 2009 to 2014
$3.5M
RESEARCH TRAINING: PSYCHOBIOLOGICAL SCIENCEST32MH017140 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI LEUCHTER, ANDREW F · 1985 to 2012
$3.2M
NCCIH NIH HHS R01AT004572NIMH NIH HHS 5T32MH017140NIMH NIH HHS T32 MH017140
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundRecently, the application of meditative practices to the treatment of depressive disorders has met with increasing clinical and scientific interest, owing to a lower side-effect burden, potential reduction of polypharmacy, and theoretical considerations that such interventions may target some of the cognitive roots of depression.

objectiveWe aimed to determine the state of the evidence supporting this application.

methodsRandomized controlled trials of techniques meeting the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality definition of meditation, for participants having clinically diagnosed depressive disorders, not currently in remission, were selected. Meditation therapies were separated into praxis (i.e., how they were applied) components, and trial outcomes were reviewed.

results18 studies meeting the inclusion criteria were identified, encompassing 7 distinct techniques and 1173 patients. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy comprised the largest proportion of studies. Studies including patients having acute major depressive episodes (n = 10 studies), and those with residual subacute clinical symptoms despite initial treatment (n = 8), demonstrated moderate to large reductions in depression symptoms within the group, and relative to control groups. There was significant heterogeneity of techniques and trial designs.

conclusionsA substantial body of evidence indicates that meditation therapies may have salutary effects on patients having clinical depressive disorders during the acute and subacute phases of treatment. Owing to methodologic deficiencies and trial heterogeneity, large-scale, randomized controlled trials with well-described comparator interventions and measures of expectation are needed to clarify the role of meditation in the depression treatment armamentarium.

Indexed as

Cognitive Behavioral TherapyDepressive DisorderHumansMajor Depressive DisorderMeditationMindfulnessTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID25591492
PMCPMC4383597
OpenAlexW2034594689

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.