Open AccessPrevalence of harm in mindfulness-based stress reduction
Author(s) -
Matthew J. Hirshberg,
Simon B. Goldberg,
Melissa A. Rosenkranz,
Richard J. Davidson
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
psychological medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.857
H-Index - 209
eISSN - 1469-8978
pISSN - 0033-2917
DOI - 10.1017/s0033291720002834
Subject(s) - mindfulness , clinical psychology , mindfulness based stress reduction , psychology , randomized controlled trial , psychopathology , psychoticism , meditation , harm , observational study , medicine , psychiatry , big five personality traits , extraversion and introversion , personality , social psychology , philosophy , theology
Mindfulness meditation has become a common method for reducing stress, stress-related psychopathology and some physical symptoms. As mindfulness programs become ubiquitous, concerns have been raised about their unknown potential for harm. We estimate multiple indices of harm following Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on two primary outcomes: global psychological and physical symptoms. In secondary analyses, we estimate multiple indices of harm on anxiety and depressive symptoms, discomfort in interpersonal relations, paranoid ideation and psychoticism.