The DOI matches its Crossref record; 67 of the 67 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Changes in spirituality partly explain health-related quality of life outcomes after Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
Open accessAbstract
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is a secular behavioral medicine program that has roots in meditative spiritual practices. Thus, spirituality may partly explain Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction outcomes. Participants (N = 279; M (SD) age = 45(12); 75% women) completed an online survey before and after an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesis that, following Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, the relationship between enhanced mindfulness and improved health-related quality of life is mediated by increased daily spiritual experiences. Changes in both spirituality and mindfulness were significantly related to improvement in mental health. Although the initial mediation hypothesis was not supported, an alternate model suggested that enhanced mindfulness partly mediated the association between increased daily spiritual experiences and improved mental health-related quality of life (indirect effect: β = 0.07, P = 0.017). Effects on physical health-related quality of life were not significant. Findings suggest a novel mechanism by which increased daily spiritual experiences following Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction may partially explain improved mental health as a function of greater mindfulness.
Overview
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
Verification
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?
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“MBSR has been shown to increase spiritual wellbeing, which in turn led to increased mental health-related quality of life (Greeson et al., 2011), decreased depression symptoms (Greeson et al, 2015), and decreased distress and medical symptoms (Carmody et al., 2008).”
From Who Benefits Most from a Brief Mindfulness Intervention to Reduce Anxiety During Stereotactic Breast Biopsy: the Moderating Effect of Trait Mindfulness, Spiritual Well-being, and Distress Tolerance (2021) · cites this paper as Greeson et al., 2011
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“MBSR has been shown to increase spiritual wellbeing, which in turn led to increased mental health-related quality of life (Greeson et al., 2011), decreased depression symptoms (Greeson et al, 2015), and decreased distress and medical symptoms (Carmody et al., 2008).”
From Who Benefits Most from a Brief Mindfulness Intervention to Reduce Anxiety During Stereotactic Breast Biopsy: the Moderating Effect of Trait Mindfulness, Spiritual Well-being, and Distress Tolerance (2021) · cites this paper as Greeson et al., 2011
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Further, prior analyses from the present study found that the CAMS-R was sensitive to change following 8 weeks of mindfulness meditation training [24, 25].”
In the citing paper
“Mindfulness-based interventions can increase dispositional mindfulness (Bränström et al., 2010; Carmody et al., 2009; Greeson et al., 2011; Nyklíček et al., 2008)”
From Dispositional Mindfulness Uncouples Physiological and Emotional Reactivity to a Laboratory Stressor and Emotional Reactivity to Executive Functioning Lapses in Daily Life (2016) · cites this paper as Greeson et al., 2011
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999) · Structural Equation Modeling A Multidisciplinary Journal · doi:10.1080/10705519909540118 · Cited by 108,788 · cited 2×
“The following recommended values were used as criteria for good model fit: (1) non-significant v2 value; (2) comparative fit index (CFI) [ .95; (3) root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) \ .06; and (4) standardized root mean squared residual (SRMR) \ .08 (Hu and Bentler 1999; Kline 2004).”
BackgroundMethodPrinciples and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling
Tabri, N., & Elliott, C. M. (2012) · Canadian Graduate Journal of Sociology and Criminology · doi:10.15353/cgjsc.v1i1.3787 · Cited by 39,094
(1998) · Cited by 36,049
Mindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and future
Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003) · Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice · doi:10.1093/clipsy.bpg016 · Cited by 8,615 · cited 2×
“Meditation and mindfulness have roots in various religious traditions (Kabat-Zinn 2003; Walsh and Shapiro 2006), and this study found that over 50% of survey respondents said that taking Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction deepened their sense of spirituality.”
BackgroundMindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and future.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003) · Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice · doi:10.1093/clipsy/bpg016 · Cited by 8,612
(2008) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 7,477
(2005) · Cited by 6,097
Meta-Analytic Procedures for Social Research
Rosenthal, R. (1991) · doi:10.4135/9781412984997 · Cited by 4,635 · cited 1×
“Effect sizes for prepost change scores were determined using the formula for paired samples (d = t/Hdf) ( Rosenthal 1991 ).”
MethodMindfulness training as a clinical intervention: a conceptual and empirical review
Baer, R. A. (2003) · Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice · doi:10.1093/clipsy.bpg015 · Cited by 4,577 · cited 1×
“Recent reviews of clinical and non-clinical populations report that Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction training enhances mental health and quality of life (Baer 2003; Bohlmeijer et al. 2010; Chiesa and Serretti 2009; Greeson 2009; Grossman et al. 2004; Hofmann et al. 2010).”
BackgroundMindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review.
Baer, R. A. (2003) · Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice · doi:10.1093/clipsy/bpg015 · Cited by 4,576
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Ware, J. E., Kosinski, M., & Keller, S. D. (1998). SF-12: How to score the SF-12 physical and mental health summary scales. Lincoln, RI: QualityMetric Inc.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 101–160 of 160
Strategies to promote hope and spirituality in the elderly: A narrative review
Abbasabadi, A., Taraghi, Z., Lolaty, H. Â., & Mohammadpour, R. A. (2017) · Annals of Tropical Medicine and Public Health · doi:10.4103/atmph.atmph_552_17 · Cited by 6
“[19] Spirituality is a complex concept described in the literature related to health and is considered as the effort of a person to respond ultimate questions about meaning and transcendence.[20] Spirituality can predict both resilience and well-being of the individual against problems.”
BackgroundSpiritual Expressions' Prediction of Mindfulness: The Case of Prospective Teachers
Yalçın, S. (2018) · Universal Journal of Educational Research · doi:10.13189/ujer.2018.060612 · Cited by 6
“It has been stated that, following the mindfulness-based stress program, increased experience of spirituality can lead individuals to have a better mental health [16].”
BackgroundInfluentialHeidari, A., Arefi, M., & Amiri, H. (2019) · Avicenna Journal of Neuro Psych Physiology · doi:10.32598/ajnpp.4.3.405 · Cited by 9
“Spiritual support, spiritual institutions, and spiritual networks are considered the most important factors in preventing disease [38].”
BackgroundStudying the Effects of Meditation
Oman, D. (2020) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198808640.013.3 · Cited by 6
Use of Poetry in Secular Mindfulness Guidance
Kempton, H. M. (2020) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-020-01370-1 · Cited by 5
Integrating Spiritual Assessment and Care in the Relief and Remission of Pain
Tracy, S. M. (2017) · Pain Management Nursing · doi:10.1016/j.pmn.2016.12.002 · Cited by 5
Bodily awareness: Religious culture’s associations with interoceptive sensibility
Cappellen, P. V., & Drummond, T. M. L. (2024) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0309216 · Cited by 4
Silva, J. P. D., Pereira, A., & Monteiro, S. O. M. (2020) · Psychological Thought · doi:10.37708/psyct.v13i2.473 · Cited by 4
“Human development through consciousness has deep roots in spiritual traditions and refers us to today's techniques such as mindfulness – which has developed from studies on spiritually based practices such as meditation (Assagioli, 1981; Carrington, 1987; Graf Durckheim, 1992, 2007; Kabat-Zinn, 2012) The relationship…”
BackgroundSupporting the pillars of life quality in long-term care
McDonald, T. (2016) · Journal of Religion Spirituality & Aging · doi:10.1080/15528030.2016.1143906 · Cited by 6
“…meaning in life, and inner peace were found to be important to HR-QOL particularly in end-of-life stages, but changes in spirituality have not been causally linked to HR-QOL even though it is widely assumed that spirituality improves mental health and reduces stress (Greeson et al., 2011).”
BackgroundA Brief History of Mindfulness in Addictions Treatment
Johnson, R. L. L. (2019) · International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling · doi:10.1007/s10447-019-09372-y · Cited by 4
Meditation on a Daily Basis Makes Wise without Violence
Yupapin, P. P. (2020) · Journal of Yoga and Physiotherapy · doi:10.19080/jyp.2018.04.555631 · Cited by 4
“In scientific interpretation, there various results are obtained by the meditation [10-15], which are increases immune function, decreases pain, decreases inflammation at the cellular level, increases positive emotion, decreases depression, decreases anxiety, decreases stress, increases social connection and emotional…”
BackgroundModrego, M., Morillo, H., López-Montoyo, A., Correa, M., Borao, L., & García‐Campayo, J. (2016) · Mindfulness & Compassion · doi:10.1016/j.mincom.2016.09.002 · Cited by 4
Marks, D. R., & Moriconi, C. D. (2016) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-30100-6_22 · Cited by 4
Mindfulness and mystical experiences in Sufis and non-Sufis
Dildar, S., Khalid, A., Naveed, A., & Shazia, A. (2023) · Mental Health Religion & Culture · doi:10.1080/13674676.2023.2250269 · Cited by 3
“Similar results are found in another study in which there is an increase in mystical experiences and a decrease in stress levels as a result of undergoing a mindfulness-based programme (Greeson et al., 2011).”
ResultSecular, religious or spiritual? A sociological portrait of UK mindfulness teachers
Arat, A., & Hemming, P. (2024) · Religion · doi:10.1080/0048721x.2024.2388534 · Cited by 3
“Clinical researchers such as Carmody et al. (2008) and Greeson et al. (2011) have argued that spirituality may play an integral role in the mechanisms by which mindfulness training can result in positive outcomes, such as reductions in physical and mental symptoms or improvements in wellbeing.”
Do I have a self? (and other useful questions from Buddhist mindfulness)
Murray, G. (2015) · Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/0004867415590460 · Cited by 3
“Indeed, there is evidence that an increased sense of spirituality is one mechanism of MBSR’s benefits for wellbeing (Greeson et al., 2011).”
BackgroundLabarta, A. C., Colvin, K. F., Emelianchik‐Key, K., & Gill, C. S. (2024) · Eating Disorders · doi:10.1080/10640266.2024.2352991 · Cited by 3
“…“daily spiritual experiences were directly related to increases in mind-fulness, which, in turn, was associated with improved mental health-related quality of life,” with over 50% of participants indicating that the course strengthened their sense of spirituality (Greeson et al., 2011, p. 513).”
Brown, C. G. (2015) · Mémoires du livre · doi:10.7202/1032713ar · Cited by 3
Falb, M. D. (2015) · OhioLink ETD Center (Ohio Library and Information Network) · Cited by 3
Spirituality and Gratitude as Predictors of the Quality of Life in Adult Cancer Patients
de Souza, M. A., & Kamble, S. V. (2016) · International Journal of Indian Psychology · doi:10.25215/0302.005 · Cited by 4
Vaughn, E. (2013) · doi:10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.1866 · Cited by 3
“The participants then reported how/if they expected to benefit from the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program and how often they practiced techniques (mindfulness, meditation, or contemplative prayer) during the duration of the program (Greeson et al., 2011).”
BackgroundInfluentialIto, Y., Browne, C. A., & Yamamoto, K. (2026) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-026-02865-z · Cited by 2
Jewish Meditation in Counseling
Hilert, A. J., & Gutiérrez, D. (2020) · Counseling and Values · doi:10.1002/cvj.12133 · Cited by 2
Jalambadani, Z., Mahmoudi, R., Assarzadeh, H., Ghorbani, A., & Nakhaie, M. S. (2025) · Art Therapy · doi:10.1080/07421656.2025.2487703 · Cited by 2
“Increased mindfulness partly mediates the relationship between greater daily spiritual experiences and improved mental health-related quality of life (Greeson et al., 2011).”
Responding to Spiritual Struggles: Experiential Avoidance and Mindfulness in Adjustment
Oemig, C. K. (2014) · OhioLink ETD Center (Ohio Library and Information Network) · Cited by 2
Holy be the Lay: A Way to Mindfulness Through Christian Poetry
Kempton, H. M. (2022) · OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine · doi:10.21926/obm.icm.2201011 · Cited by 3
Effects of Mindfulness Training on First Year Doctoral Students’ Therapeutic Relationships
Simons, J. (2014) · Digital Commons - George Fox University (George Fox University) · Cited by 2
Wang, Q., Zhou, X., & Ng, S. (2021) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-021-02042-6 · Cited by 3
Why should Buddhist Mindfulness get a Pass?
Purser, R. E. (2020) · Religious Studies Review · doi:10.1111/rsr.14530 · Cited by 1
Spiritual Aspirations of American College Students
Esat, G., & Enriquez, S. K. (2025) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel16091157 · Cited by 3
Ebrahimi, M. (2025) · ASEAN Entrepreneurship Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.5377921 · Cited by 1
Yıldırım, J., & Bahtiyar, B. (2020) · Klinik Psikoloji Dergisi · doi:10.5455/kpd.26024438m000019 · Cited by 1
Fonia, D., & Aisenberg-Shafran, D. (2022) · Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings · doi:10.1007/s10880-022-09911-7 · Cited by 1
“Increased spiritual experiences and mindfulness following MBSR may partially explain improved mental health across the lifespan (Greeson et al., 2011).”
BackgroundSafa, M., Zomorodi, S., Boroujerdi, F. G., & Gholami, R. (2023) · Journal of Health Reports and Technology · doi:10.5812/jhrt-136050 · Cited by 1
Al-Razi, M. F., & Nashori, F. (2025) · Psikis Jurnal Psikologi Islami · doi:10.19109/psikis.v11i1.27626 · Cited by 1
Mindfulness meditation training for spiritual struggles: A randomized controlled trial
Feuille, M. (2015) · ScholarWorks@BGSU (Bowling Green State University) · Cited by 1
Momeni, J., Omidi, A., Raygan, F., & Akbari, H. (2018) · International journal of body, mind and culture · doi:10.22122/ijbmc.v5i2.120 · Cited by 1
Bishop, M. (2022) · Digital Archive @ GSU · doi:10.57709/10044187 · Cited by 1
The Turkish version of the Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale--Revised
Catak, P. D. (2012) · PsycEXTRA Dataset · doi:10.1037/e528342013-011 · Cited by 1
(2020) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-816766-3.00016-1 · Cited by 1
Preprint: Bodily Awareness: Religious Culture’s Associations with Interoceptive SensibilityPreprint
Cappellen, P. V., & Drummond, T. M. L. (2023) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/gzsva · Cited by 1
The 2023 Two Day Symposium Report Addressing WorkplacePreprint
Hollis, L. P. (2024) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4883668 · Cited by 1
Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale-Revised (CAMS-R)
Feldman, G. C., Westine, M., Edelman, A., Higgs, M., Renna, M. E., & Greeson, J. M. (2025) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-47219-0_19 · Cited by 1
Self-citationGuadagno, J. (2012) · DukeSpace (Duke University) · Cited by 1
Colgan, D. D. (2014) · CommonKnowledge Research Repository (Pacific University Oregon)
Holmes, O. S., & Findlay, B. (2016) · Sensoria A Journal of Mind Brain and Culture · doi:10.7790/sa.v0i0.432
Complementary and Integrative Health in Chronic Pain and Palliative Care
Davis, D. L., Grossman, L., Kutner, J. S., Navarro-Leahy, A., & Smith, M. C. (2018) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-95369-4_33
Bergman, A. L. (2019) · CommonKnowledge Research Repository (Pacific University Oregon)
Shireen, S. H. (2020) · TSpace (University of Toronto)
Bélanger, B., Charbonneau, C., Beauregard, L., Biron, C., & Poulin, S. P. (2021) · Théologiques · doi:10.7202/1074681ar
Vaughn, E. C. (2013) · Civil War Book Review
Is Mindfulness “Religious”? From Sectarianism to UniversalismPreprint
Sun, J. (2018) · MindRxiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31231/osf.io/m5esh
Effect of Mindfulness Therapy to Reduce Stress among Janitor Workers
PRADEEPA (2023) · International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research · doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2023.v05i06.8663
Mindfulness and Life Satisfaction
Christopher, M., & Gilbert, B. D. (2023) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-17299-1_4021
Brown, S. S. (2024) · BRILL eBooks · doi:10.1163/9789004686250_007
Naragatti, S. (2025) · International Journal on Science and Technology · doi:10.71097/ijsat.v16.i2.3603
“Practices like meditation, prayer, and contemplation foster self-awareness, reduce stress, and enhance well-being 37 .”
Mindfulness and devotion in Tantric Yoga: evidence of a strong trait association
Maxwell, R. W. (2026) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1772396
“On the basis of the results of other studies of spiritual meditation (Wachholtz and Pargament, 2005; Greeson et al., 2011, 2015; Ivtzan et al., 2013; Maxwell and Katyal, 2022), devotion is expected to be significantly related to greater trait mindfulness, greater self-actualiza-tion, greater…”
Mindfulness, Spirituality, and Awe as Predictors of Psychological Well-Being in Camping Experiences
Dinç, H. (2026) · Pamukkale spor bilimleri dergisi · doi:10.54141/psbd.1858653
Effects of Mindfulness Practices on Perceived Stress Levels
Ginn, K. (2014)
Metadata
- Authors
- Greeson, J. M., Webber, D. M., Smoski, M. J., Brantley, J. G., Ekblad, A. G., Suarez, E. C., & Wolever, R. Q.
- Affiliations
- Duke Medical Center (US)
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Greeson, Jeffrey M.
- Venue
- Journal of Behavioral Medicine
- Published
- 2011-03-01
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 508-518
- ISSN
- 0160-7715 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-3521
- PMC
- PMC3151546
- OpenAlex
- W2028933237
- Cited by
- 159
- References
- 65
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 12.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Journal of Behavioral Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Rowan Digitals Works (Rowan University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (K23MH087754)
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (K99AT004945)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Keywords
- mindfulness-based stress reduction, spirituality, daily spiritual experiences, mindfulness, health-related quality of life, mental health, mediation, meditation, behavioral medicine
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Female, Health Surveys, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Models, Psychological, Quality of Life, Stress, Psychological, Meditation, Spirituality
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