Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30345511›Full record

SynthesisJournal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines2019

Research Review: The effects of mindfulness-based interventions on cognition and mental health in children and adolescents - a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Darren L Dunning, Kirsty Griffiths, Willem Kuyken, Catherine Crane, Lucy Foulkes, Jenna Parker, Tim Dalgleish

Registry-linked trialOpen access · hybridAbstract readMeta-AnalysisReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05787483 (Evaluating Biopsychosocial Outcomes of Mindfulness-based Instruction in Adolescence), which is not on this map. Cited by 176 papers, 22 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
176citing papers in PubMed, 22 pooled it
45.3field-weighted citation impact, top 1% 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.

NCT05787483 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2023, after this paper: background citation

Evaluating Biopsychosocial Outcomes of Mindfulness-based Instruction in Adolescence

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of Alabama at BirminghamRan2023 to 2024Enrolled68ConditionsSpecific Learning Disability, Mental Health IssueArmsMindUP group, active control group
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

176 citing papers in PubMed, 22 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 565 citations in OpenAlex.

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  3. Mindfulness-Based Programmes for Work Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2025
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  4. Effects of mindfulness-based interventions on obesogenic eating behaviors: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025
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  7. Surgical failure guided by DISE in patients with obstructive sleep apnea: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2024
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  13. Mindfulness-based interventions among people of color: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychotherapy research : journal of the Society for Psychotherapy Research · 2022
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  15. 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 · 2022
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116 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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

7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Darren L DunningMedical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Kirsty GriffithsMedical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Willem KuykenDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Catherine CraneDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Lucy FoulkesInstitute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK.
Jenna ParkerMedical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Tim DalgleishMedical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit · GBUniversity of Cambridge · GBUniversity of Oxford · GBUniversity College London · GB

Funding

Medical Research Council MC_U105579215Medical Research Council MC_UU_00005/4Wellcome Trust 107496
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMindfulness based interventions (MBIs) are an increasingly popular way of attempting to improve the behavioural, cognitive and mental health outcomes of children and adolescents, though there is a suggestion that enthusiasm has moved ahead of the evidence base. Most evaluations of MBIs are either uncontrolled or nonrandomized trials. This meta-analysis aims to establish the efficacy of MBIs for children and adolescents in studies that have adopted a randomized, controlled trial (RCT) design.

methodsA systematic literature search of RCTs of MBIs was conducted up to October 2017. Thirty-three independent studies including 3,666 children and adolescents were included in random effects meta-analyses with outcome measures categorized into cognitive, behavioural and emotional factors. Separate random effects meta-analyses were completed for the seventeen studies (n = 1,762) that used an RCT design with an active control condition.

resultsAcross all RCTs we found significant positive effects of MBIs, relative to controls, for the outcome categories of Mindfulness, Executive Functioning, Attention, Depression, Anxiety/Stress and Negative Behaviours, with small effect sizes (Cohen's d), ranging from .16 to .30. However, when considering only those RCTs with active control groups, significant benefits of an MBI were restricted to the outcomes of Mindfulness (d = .42), Depression (d = .47) and Anxiety/Stress (d = .18) only.

conclusionsThis meta-analysis reinforces the efficacy of using MBIs for improving the mental health and wellbeing of youth as assessed using the gold standard RCT methodology. Future RCT evaluations should incorporate scaled-up definitive trial designs to further evaluate the robustness of MBIs in youth, with an embedded focus on mechanisms of action.

Indexed as

Randomized Controlled Trials as TopicAdolescentBehavioral SymptomsChildCognitive DysfunctionHumansMindfulnessadolescenceattentioninterventionmeta-analysisMindfulness

Identifiers

PMID30345511
PMCPMC6546608
OpenAlexW2897917146

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

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.