Meditation may help focus and mindfulness, and lower stress

The review

1. 01

   Who took part

   The 163 studies were mostly of adults who meditated and were not in clinical groups. The 125 journal articles included 8,161 people in total.

2. 02

   What they did

   Meditators practised a style such as transcendental meditation or mindfulness. Other groups got no treatment, and some did relaxation training. Studies lasted from days to months.

3. 03

   What happened

   Meditation had a medium effect on attention, mindfulness and stress. Neutral personality traits hardly changed. Some results may have been missed from published studies.

What the review found

1. HelpedFocus

   In 22 studies, meditation helped attention more than other groups did.

   • Action: Practise mindfulnesstested

   Pooled analysis of 22 studies with 1,307 people · vs people who got no treatment or did relaxation · ⚠ mixes trials with other kinds of study

2. HelpedFocus

   Across 26 studies, meditation raised mindfulness scores more than other groups did.

   • Action: Practise mindfulnesstested

   Pooled analysis of 26 studies with 3,074 people · vs people who got no treatment or did relaxation · they rated themselves · ⚠ mixes trials with other kinds of study

3. HelpedOther outcomes

   Across 16 studies, meditation lowered stress more than the other groups did.

   • Action: Practise mindfulnesstested

   Pooled analysis of 16 studies with 855 people · vs people who got no treatment or did relaxation · they rated themselves · ⚠ mixes trials with other kinds of study

Source