Meditation‐based lifestyle modification in mild to moderate depression—A randomized controlled trial
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: Depression is a global key challenge in mental health care. The implementation of effective, low-risk and cost-effective interventions to reduce its disease burden is a necessity. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of the new Meditation-Based Lifestyle Modification (MBLM) program, a "second-generation" mindfulness-based intervention, in depressive outpatients. METHODS: Eighty-one patients with mild to moderate depression were randomized into three groups: intervention group (MBLM), control group (CONTROL), and treatment as usual group (TAU). The primary outcome was the change of depressive symptoms as administered by the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) after 4 and 8 weeks. Secondary outcome variables included the Brief Symptom Checklist-18 and the Perceived Stress Scale-10. A 6-month follow-up was conducted. RESULTS: ) with a 13.15 points reduction of BDI-II score versus 1.71 points (CONTROL) and 3.34 points (TAU) after 8 weeks. Between-group post hoc tests for all secondary outcomes and at follow-up also yielded significant between-group differences with medium to large effect sizes in favor of MBLM. CONCLUSIONS: Study results showed beneficial effects of MBLM in depressed outpatients. Further high-quality controlled clinical studies including qualitative research are needed to investigate the specific and unspecific effects of the MBLM program in depression and other medical conditions.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In two studies, the exact method of randomization used was unable to be known.
“while in two studies were we unable to know the exact method of randomization it used [20, 58].”
From The effectiveness of mindfulness yoga on patients with major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (2023) · cites this paper as [58]
Section 2.8 (Sample size and data analysis) specifies the method used for both randomization steps: MinimPy, implementing a software-based minimization algorithm. Thus the exact method is reported for this cited study, contrary to the claim that it could not be known. (LLM, conf=0.90)
Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredMost studies provided an explanation of why participants dropped out at different times.
“Most of the studies provided an explanation of why participants dropped out at different times [31, 54, 56–58].”
From The effectiveness of mindfulness yoga on patients with major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (2023) · cites this paper as [58]
Section 3.1 (page unavailable) reports that one participant dropped out during Phase I and three during Phase II. It does not explain why they dropped out, so this paper supports the timing but not the attributed explanation of reasons. As a single trial, it also cannot establish what most studies reported. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredTwo studies used the Perceived Stress Scale to measure the effect of mindfulness yoga on stress at 8-week post-intervention.
“Two studies [54, 58] use the Perceived Stress Scale to measure the effect of mindfulness yoga on stress at 8-week post-intervention.”
From The effectiveness of mindfulness yoga on patients with major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (2023) · cites this paper as [58]
The Secondary outcome variables section identifies the Perceived Stress Scale-10 as a measure of perceived stress, and Table 2 reports results for the eight-week meditation-based yoga intervention. But Table 2 defines the eight-week assessment as immediately following the intervention, not eight weeks after it. This paper supports the claim for one of the two cited studies, but not the stated post-intervention timing. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThree included studies included participants with current depression.
“Three studies included participants with current depression [56, 58, 60].”
From The effectiveness of mindfulness yoga on patients with major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (2023) · cites this paper as [58]
Two included studies were from Germany.
“two was from Germany [57, 58]”
From The effectiveness of mindfulness yoga on patients with major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (2023) · cites this paper as [58]
One study was guided by the therapists.
“one study was guided by the therapists [58]”
From The effectiveness of mindfulness yoga on patients with major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (2023) · cites this paper as [58]
One included study was based on classical yoga.
“one was based on classical yoga [58]”
From The effectiveness of mindfulness yoga on patients with major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (2023) · cites this paper as [58]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
The citation lists haven’t been fetched yet
References 56 · Cited by 34
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Bryant, E. F. (2015). The yoga sutras of Patañjali: A new edition, translation, and commentary. North Point Press.
- Carpenter, D. (2003). Practice makes perfect: The role of practice (abhyåsa) in Påtañjala yoga. In D. Carpenter, & I. Whicher (Eds.), Yoga (pp. 37-62). Routledge.
- Authors
- Bringmann, H. C., Michalsen, A., Jeitler, M., Kessler, C. S., Brinkhaus, B., Brunnhuber, S., & Sedlmeier, P.
- Affiliations
- Freie Universität Berlin (DE)
- Immanuel Krankenhaus (DE)
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy Diakoniekliniken Zschadrass Colditz Germany
- Chemnitz University of Technology (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Bringmann, Holger C.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Depression and Anxiety
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2022-03-21
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 363-375
- ISSN
- 1091-4269 (ISSN-L)
- 1520-6394
- OpenAlex
- W4220948872
- Cited by
- 34
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 3
- FWCI
- 6.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Depression and Anxiety (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Refubium (Universitätsbibliothek der Freien Universität Berlin) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Universitätsbibliothek der FU Berlin Hochschulschriftenstelle u. Dokumentenserver
- Funders
- Karl und Veronica Carstens-Stiftung (0/901/2017)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Keywords
- mindfulness-based interventions, mild to moderate depression, depressive symptoms, outpatients, perceived stress
- MeSH terms
- Cost-Benefit Analysis, Depression, Humans, Life Style, Treatment Outcome, Meditation, Mindfulness
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
