Understanding the Implementation of Informal Meditation Practice in a Smartphone-Based Intervention: A Qualitative Analysis.

Objectives: Informal practice (i.e., brief meditation practices incorporated spontaneously into daily activities) may be important for increasing the efficacy and accessibility of meditation-based interventions (MedBIs).

Healthy Minds Index: A brief measure of the core dimensions of well-being.

We developed a self-report measure of psychological well-being for teens and adults, the Healthy Minds Index, based on a novel theory that four trainable pillars underlie well-being: awareness, connection, insight, and purpose. Ninety-seven items were developed and revised by experts and guided by qualitative testing with teens (n = 32; average age = 16.0 years).

Is informal practice associated with outcomes in loving-kindness and compassion training? Evidence from pre-post and daily diary assessments.

We investigated whether informal meditation practice (i.e., self-reported application of meditative techniques outside a period of formal meditation) was associated with outcomes in smartphone-based loving-kindness and compassion training.

How often should I meditate? A randomized trial examining the role of meditation frequency when total amount of meditation is held constant.

Meditation apps are the most commonly used mental health apps. However, the optimal dosing of app-delivered meditation practice has not been established. We examined whether the distribution of meditation practices across a day impacted outcomes in a distressed population.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Smartphone-Based Well-Being Training in Public School System Employees During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

While the extraordinary pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic on student mental health have received considerable attention, less attention has been placed on educator well-being. School system employees play a vital role in society, and teacher levels of well-being are associated with the educational outcomes of young people. We extend extant research on the prevalence and correlates of educator distress during the pandemic by reporting on a pragmatic randomized wait-list controlled trial (=662; 64% teachers) of an innovative mental health promotion strategy implemented during the pandemic; a free four-week smartphone-based meditation app designed to train key constituents of well-being (Healthy Minds Program; HMP).

Alliance With an Unguided Smartphone App: Validation of the Digital Working Alliance Inventory.

The working alliance may be relevant in unguided smartphone-based interventions, but no validated measure exists. We evaluated the psychometric properties of the six-item Digital Working Alliance Inventory (DWAI) using a cross-sectional survey of meditation app users ( = 290) and the intervention arm of a randomized trial testing a smartphone-based meditation app ( = 314). Exploratory factor analysis suggested a single-factor solution which was replicated using longitudinal confirmatory factor analysis.

Testing the Efficacy of a Multicomponent, Self-Guided, Smartphone-Based Meditation App: Three-Armed Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: A growing number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) suggest psychological benefits associated with meditation training delivered via mobile health. However, research in this area has primarily focused on mindfulness, only one of many meditative techniques.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of 2 versions of a self-guided, smartphone-based meditation app-the Healthy Minds Program (HMP)-which includes training in mindfulness (Awareness), along with practices designed to cultivate positive relationships (Connection) or insight into the nature of the self (Insight).

Mindfulness and the contemplative life: pathways to connection, insight, and purpose.

Despite the growing popular and scientific interest in mindfulness and other forms of meditation, there are important gaps in our understanding of the full range of contemplative practices and the manner in which specific forms of meditation may contribute to well-being. In this article, we discuss the relationship between mindfulness and other forms of meditation, such as those related to prosocial qualities, cognitive insight, and meaning and purpose. We propose that mindfulness plays an important role as a foundation for other contemplative practices.

Outstanding Challenges in Scientific Research on Mindfulness and Meditation.

Van Dam et al. raise a number of critical issues in contemporary research on mindfulness and meditation and offer a prescriptive agenda for future work in this area. While we agree with all of the key points made in their article, there are a number of important issues omitted that are central to a comprehensive agenda for future research in this area.

Reconstructing and deconstructing the self: cognitive mechanisms in meditation practice.

Scientific research highlights the central role of specific psychological processes, in particular those related to the self, in various forms of human suffering and flourishing. This view is shared by Buddhism and other contemplative and humanistic traditions, which have developed meditation practices to regulate these processes. Building on a previous paper in this journal, we propose a novel classification system that categorizes specific styles of meditation into attentional, constructive, and deconstructive families based on their primary cognitive mechanisms.