ArticlePloS one2016
Reporting of Positive Results in Randomized Controlled Trials of Mindfulness-Based Mental Health Interventions.
Article in PloS one, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06695715 (Effect of Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback, Interoceptive Training, and Mindfulness on Stress Reduction in the University of Seville Academic Community), which is not on this map. Cited by 37 papers, 10 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.
Effect of Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback, Interoceptive Training, and Mindfulness on Stress Reduction in the University of Seville Academic Community (Faculty, Administrative Staff, and Students)
Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 107 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of exercise for depression: systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2024Pooled it
- The Empirical Status of Mindfulness-Based Interventions: A Systematic Review of 44 Meta-Analyses of Randomized Controlled Trials.Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2022Pooled it
- Mindfulness-based interventions for medication adherence: A systematic review and narrative synthesis.Journal of psychosomatic research · 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
- Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for the treatment of current depressive symptoms: a meta-analysis.Cognitive behaviour therapy · 2019Pooled it
- Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Correlates of FFMQ Mindfulness Facets.Frontiers in psychology · 2019Pooled it
- A systematic review of randomized trials of mind-body interventions for PTSD.Journal of clinical psychology · 2018Pooled it
- Mindfulness-based interventions for psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical psychology review · 2018Pooled it
- Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on employees' mental health: A systematic review.PloS one · 2018Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Breast Cancer Survivors with Chronic Neuropathic Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Pain research & management · 2022Trial
- Embodied Mindfulness Through Movement: A Scoping Review of Dance-Based Interventions for Mental Well-Being in Recreational Populations.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Clinical Practice: A Systematic Review of Neurocognitive Outcomes and Applications for Mental Health and Well-Being.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Statistical significance and publication reporting bias in abstracts of reproductive medicine studies.Human reproduction (Oxford, England) · 2024Article
- Slovenian validation of the Capacity to Love Inventory: associations with clinical measures and mindfulness.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Dysfunctional self-reported interoception predicts residual symptom burden of fatigue in major depressive disorder: an observational study.BMC psychiatry · 2023Observational
- Religious and Existential Determinants of Affective Response to a Brief Mindfulness Intervention.Affective science · 2023Article
- Mindfulness for the self-management of negative coping, rumination and fears of compassion in people with cancer: An exploratory study.Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2023Article
- Designing Mobile Health Applications to Support Walking for Older Adults.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- The effects of app-based mindfulness practice on the well-being of university students and staff.Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundA large proportion of mindfulness-based therapy trials report statistically significant results, even in the context of very low statistical power. The objective of the present study was to characterize the reporting of "positive" results in randomized controlled trials of mindfulness-based therapy. We also assessed mindfulness-based therapy trial registrations for indications of possible reporting bias and reviewed recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses to determine whether reporting biases were identified.
methodsCINAHL, Cochrane CENTRAL, EMBASE, ISI, MEDLINE, PsycInfo, and SCOPUS databases were searched for randomized controlled trials of mindfulness-based therapy. The number of positive trials was described and compared to the number that might be expected if mindfulness-based therapy were similarly effective compared to individual therapy for depression. Trial registries were searched for mindfulness-based therapy registrations. CINAHL, Cochrane CENTRAL, EMBASE, ISI, MEDLINE, PsycInfo, and SCOPUS were also searched for mindfulness-based therapy systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
results108 (87%) of 124 published trials reported ≥1 positive outcome in the abstract, and 109 (88%) concluded that mindfulness-based therapy was effective, 1.6 times greater than the expected number of positive trials based on effect size d = 0.55 (expected number positive trials = 65.7). Of 21 trial registrations, 13 (62%) remained unpublished 30 months post-trial completion. No trial registrations adequately specified a single primary outcome measure with time of assessment. None of 36 systematic reviews and meta-analyses concluded that effect estimates were overestimated due to reporting biases.
conclusionsThe proportion of mindfulness-based therapy trials with statistically significant results may overstate what would occur in practice.
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.