Efficacy of mindfulness-based therapy from a meta-analysis of 39 studies

In this meta-analysis, effect size estimates suggested that mindfulness-based therapy was moderately effective for improving anxiety (Hedges’s g  0.63) and depressive symptoms (Hedges’s g  0.59) from pre- to posttreatment in the overall sample.¹

In patients with anxiety disorders, this intervention was associated with an effect size (Hedges’s g) of 0.97 for improving anxiety symptoms, and an effect size of 0.95 for improving depressive symptoms.¹

These results suggest that mindfulness-based therapy is a promising intervention for treating anxiety and mood disorders in clinical populations.¹

CI=confidence interval; GAD=generalized anxiety disorder; SAD=social anxiety disorder