Between jam-packed work hours, pressing deadlines and juggling social relations, stress is perhaps the one constant amidst the hustle and bustle of daily life. Structured mental well-being programmes like Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) can effectively help people manage their stress levels, but many often cannot afford the costs or cannot commit to completing such programmes over several weeks.
As an alternative, self-administered mindfulness interventions (SAMIs) are rising in popularity, especially as they can be accomplished quickly and flexibly. However, scientific evidence for the effectiveness of SAMIs has been inconsistent. “Previous research in this area often suffered from significant limitations, such as small sample sizes, failure to use an active control group, or a lack of study pre-registration,” said Alessandro Sparacio, a Research Scientist at A*STAR’s Institute for Human Development and Potential (A*STAR IHDP).
Hoping to help settle the debate, Sparacio teamed up with Hans IJzerman of Grenoble Alps University in France, Ivan Ropovik of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague, and Gabriela Jiga-Boy of Swansea University in the UK. Alongside 57 other international collaborators, they investigated the effects of SAMIs on the self-reported stress levels of over 2,000 individuals in 37 locations around the world.
“To build credibility, the field needs more methodologically sound research. We specifically designed our multi-site study to address these past shortcomings,” Sparacio said. Besides the large sample size, the researchers pre-registered their randomised controlled trial, declaring the research plan before starting the study to prevent biased reporting of the outcomes.
Four popular SAMIs were selected—body scan, mindful walking, mindful breathing, and loving-kindness—with the audio tracks recorded by a certified MBSR instructor to standardise the quality of the interventions used. Meanwhile, participants in the control group were actively engaged, like listening to a story without key mindfulness elements, allowing for more stringent comparisons against those receiving the intervention.
The team found that the SAMIs had small yet significant benefits on reducing self-reported short-term stress compared to the control group. Despite the promising findings, Sparacio noted that the diversity of the participants could be improved, as most were young adults from higher-income countries.
To broaden the applicability of their findings, the researchers are already initiating a new multi-site project including participants of less privileged backgrounds. In addition to self-reports, this new international study will also include measurements of heart rate variability (HRV) as a sensitive biomarker to gauge stress levels more objectively.
“Populations of lower socioeconomic status often face higher levels of chronic stress while having fewer resources to address it. A scalable, low-cost and effective tool could be particularly beneficial for them, and this remains a vital area for future research,” Sparacio said.
The A*STAR-affiliated researcher contributing to this study is from the A*STAR’s Institute for Human Development and Potential (A*STAR IHDP).
