SynthesisPsychosomatic medicine
The Effects of Mindfulness and Meditation on Vagally Mediated Heart Rate Variability: A Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Psychosomatic medicine. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
44 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effect of Brief Mindfulness Meditation Interventions on Heart Rate Variability in Adults: A Systematic Review.Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback · 2026Pooled it
- Investigator Meditation Practice Predicts Efficacy of Child/Adolescent Mindfulness-Based Interventions: A Meta-Analysis.Psychotherapy and psychosomatics · 2026Pooled it
- Heart rate variability in mental disorders: an umbrella review of meta-analyses.Translational psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of stress management interventions on heart rate variability in adults with cardiovascular disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Effect of breathwork on stress and mental health: A meta-analysis of randomised-controlled trials.Scientific reports · 2023Pooled it
- Impact of self-guided mindfulness versus self-compassion application on physiological and psychological outcomes in workers: A randomized controlled trial.Applied psychology. Health and well-being · 2026Trial
- Effects of mindfulness breathing meditation on stress and cognitive functions: a heart rate variability and eye-tracking study.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- The Selah trial: A preference-based partially randomized waitlist control study of three stress management interventions.Translational behavioral medicine · 2025Trial
- The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Enhancing Psychological Well-Being in Athletes: A Scoping Review of Randomised Controlled Trials.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Enhancing Physiological Complexity Through Mindfulness: A Wearable-Based Intervention for First Responders and Their Partners.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Daily Stress and Heart Rate Variability Among Mindfulness Meditation Practitioners: mHealth Observational Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Observational
- Psychological Scars and Physical Consequences: Linking PTSD to Cardiovascular Health.Journal of cardiovascular translational research · 2026Review
- Using a Digital-Based Mindfulness Curriculum to Enhance Healthy Aging Outcomes in Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Taiwan: Mixed Methods Feasibility Study.JMIR human factors · 2026Article
- Prenatal Emotion Dysregulation, Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia, and Mindfulness Predict tTddler Socioemotional Development.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2026Article
- Mindfulness-based intervention alters nonlinear heart rate variability in a pilot study.Discover mental health · 2026Article
- Neurophysiological and autonomic patterns associated with heartfulness and bell meditation: a three-arm exploratory study.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Combined Liuzijue and mindful breathing promote greater sustained relaxation than mindful breathing alone in university students with anxiety symptoms.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Heart rate variability, ECG minor changes, and HRV-ECG coupling associated with an adjunctive structured breathing-meditation protocol in combat-exposed military personnel.Frontiers in network physiology · 2026Article
- Autonomic and psychophysiological effects of a 13-week mindfulness-based intervention in university students.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- A novel integrated training program for police pistol use across multiple operational scenarios: a randomized controlled trial of integrated psychological skill.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveHeart rate variability (HRV) is a marker of autonomic nervous system function associated with both physical and mental health. Many studies have suggested that mindfulness and meditation-based interventions (MBIs) are associated with improvements in HRV, but findings are mixed, and to date, no comprehensive meta-analysis has synthesized results.
methodsSystematic literature searches were conducted using PsycINFO, Embase, Medline, CINAHL, ERIC, and Scopus to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the effects of predominantly seated MBIs on resting-state vagally mediated HRV. Risk of bias was judged using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool.
resultsNineteen RCTs met the criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Random-effects meta-analysis found that MBIs were not efficacious in increasing vagally mediated resting-state HRV relative to control conditions (Hedges g = 0.38, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -0.014 to 0.77). When removing an outlier (g = 3.22), the effect size was reduced, CI narrowed, and findings remained nonsignificant (g = 0.19, 95% CI = -0.02 to 0.39). High heterogeneity in results (I2 = 89.12%) could not be explained by a priori-determined moderators including intervention duration, study setting, and control type.
conclusionsThere is currently insufficient evidence to indicate that MBIs lead to improvements in vagally mediated HRV over control conditions. Future large, well-designed RCTs with low risk of methodological bias could help add to the current evidence to elucidate any role MBIs might play in impacting HRV.
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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.