The DOI matches its Crossref record; 90 of the 90 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Mindfulness Training and Physical Health: Mechanisms and Outcomes
Open accessAbstract
Objective: There has been substantial research and public interest in mindfulness interventions, biological pathways, and health for the past two decades. This article reviews recent developments in understanding relationships between mindfulness interventions and physical health. Methods: A selective review was conducted with the goal of synthesizing conceptual and empirical relationships between mindfulness interventions and physical health outcomes. Results: Initial randomized controlled trials in this area suggest that mindfulness interventions can improve pain management outcomes among chronic pain populations, and there is preliminary evidence for mindfulness interventions improving specific stress-related disease outcomes in some patient populations (i.e., clinical colds, psoriasis, irritable bowel syndrome, posttraumatic stress disorder, diabetes, HIV). We offer a stress-buffering framework for the observed beneficial effects of mindfulness interventions and summarize supporting biobehavioral and neuroimaging studies that provide plausible mechanistic pathways linking mindfulness interventions with positive physical health outcomes. Conclusions: We conclude with new opportunities for research and clinical implementations to consider in the next two decades.
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“MBIs have been shown to decrease inflammation42,43”
From Feasibility, Acceptability, and Efficacy of Mindfulness Training in People With Upper Motor Neuron Disorders: A Systematic Review (2022) · cites this paper as [43]
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“decrease cortisol levels by altering hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function,42–45”
From Feasibility, Acceptability, and Efficacy of Mindfulness Training in People With Upper Motor Neuron Disorders: A Systematic Review (2022) · cites this paper as [43]
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“Creswell et al 32,33 suggest that mindfulness interventions foster resilience to stress in the brain by enhancing connectivity within stress regulatory regions of the prefrontal cortex and decreasing connectivity in regions of the brain controlling the fight-or-flight stress response.”
From Nursing Implications of Mindfulness-Informed Interventions for Stroke Survivors and Their Families. (2022) · cites this paper as [33]
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“Furthermore, their work suggests that mindfulness training can buffer the sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamicpituitary-adrenal response to acute stress.”
From Nursing Implications of Mindfulness-Informed Interventions for Stroke Survivors and Their Families. (2022) · cites this paper as [33]
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“Intervention studies have shown promising results for mindfulness interventions in patients living with long term health conditions and chronic pain (31, 32).”
From Mindfulness as Predictor of Itch Catastrophizing in Patients With Atopic Dermatitis: Results of a Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study (2021) · cites this paper as [32]
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“the burgeoning literature on mindfulness for various medical conditions and for promoting behavior change has been promising. 77”
From Randomized Controlled Trials of Mindfulness and Acceptance-Based Interventions Over the Past Two Decades: A Bibliometric Analysis. (2021) · cites this paper as [77]
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“Mindfulness practices help reduce stress by altering brain structures and activity in regions associated with attention and emotional regulation [36,37].”
From The Impact of an Online Mindfulness-Based Practice Program on the Mental Health of Brazilian Nurses during the COVID-19 Pandemic (2023) · cites this paper as [37]
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Citations
Cites
Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition.
Bishop, S. R., Lau, M., Shapiro, S., Carlson, L., Anderson, N. D., Carmody, J., Segal, Z. V., Abbey, S., Speca, M., Velting, D., et al. (2004) · Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice · doi:10.1093/clipsy.bph077 · Cited by 7,234 · cited 3×
“awareness, to one's present moment experiences (5,8,9).”
Social Relationships and Health.
Cohen, S. (2004) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.59.8.676 · Cited by 4,852
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1982) · General Hospital Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/0163-8343(82)90026-3 · Cited by 4,255 · cited 1×
“5-hour classes, a day-long retreat, and daily audio-guided home practice (13).”
Shapiro, S. L., Carlson, L. E., Astin, J. A., & Freedman, B. (2006) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.20237 · Cited by 4,002
Mindfulness: Theoretical Foundations and Evidence for its Salutary Effects
Brown, K. W., Ryan, R. M., & Creswell, J. D. (2007) · Psychological Inquiry · doi:10.1080/10478400701598298 · Cited by 3,654 · cited 1×
“awareness, to one's present moment experiences (5,8,9).”
Self-citationNeural regulation of endocrine and autonomic stress responses
Ulrich-Lai, Y. M., & Herman, J. P. (2009) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2647 · Cited by 3,318 · cited 1×
“The central nucleus of the amygdala has long been considered an important node for gating the central stress response (50,51), and recent studies suggest that mindful awareness and mindfulness interventions are associated withmodulations in amygdala structure and function (52–55).”
Stress signalling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and function
Arnsten, A. F. T. (2009) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2648 · Cited by 3,299 · cited 2×
“For example, we have recently shown that mindfulness training decreases stress-related resting state functional connectivity of the amygdala with subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (53), a pathway that may be important in coordinating the brain's central fight-or-flight stress response (51).”
Psychological Stress and Disease
Cohen, S., Janicki-Deverts, D., & Miller, G. E. (2007) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.298.14.1685 · Cited by 3,168 · cited 1×
“Indeed, the extant mindfulness intervention RCT outcomes described previously are consistent with this framework, because stress is known to trigger the onset or exacerbation of symptoms in chronic pain, psoriasis, IBS, PTSD, and diabetes (46).”
Hölzel, B. K., Lazar, S. W., Gard, T., Schuman-Olivier, Z., Vago, D. R., & Ott, U. (2011) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691611419671 · Cited by 3,024
Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation
Davidson, R. J., Kabat-Zinn, J., Schumacher, J., Rosenkranz, M., Muller, D., Santorelli, S. F., Urbanowski, F., Harrington, A., Bonus, K., & Sheridan, J. F. (2003) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/01.psy.0000077505.67574.e3 · Cited by 2,925 · cited 1×
“Participants were randomly assigned to (1) mindfulness training that included the standard attention monitoring and acceptance skills training (monitor + accept), (2) mindfulness training that included attention monitoring skills training only (monitor only), or (3) control.”
Cited by
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Mindfulness and Behavior Change
Schuman-Olivier, Z., Trombka, M., Lovas, D. A., Brewer, J. A., Vago, D. R., Gawande, R., Dunne, J. P., Lazar, S. W., Loucks, E. B., & Fulwiler, C. (2020) · Harvard Review of Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/hrp.0000000000000277 · Cited by 435
Phan, M. L., Renshaw, T. L., Caramanico, J., Greeson, J. M., Mackenzie, E., Atkinson‐Diaz, Z., Doppelt, N., Tai, H., Mandell, D. S., & Nuske, H. J. (2022) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-022-01885-9 · Cited by 213
Neurobiological Changes Induced by Mindfulness and Meditation: A Systematic Review
Calderone, A., Latella, D., Impellizzeri, F., Pasquale, P. D., Famà, F., Quartarone, A., & Calabrò, R. S. (2024) · Biomedicines · doi:10.3390/biomedicines12112613 · Cited by 181
“Studies have shown that mindfulness meditation is significantly superior to placebo treatments in reducing both the intensity and unpleasantness of pain [17].”
Chin, B., Lindsay, E. K., Greco, C. M., Brown, K. W., Smyth, J. M., Wright, A. G. C., & Creswell, J. D. (2019) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/hea0000763 · Cited by 103
Self-citationNaliboff, B. D., Smith, S. R., Serpa, J. G., Laird, K. T., Stains, J., Connolly, L. S., Labus, J. S., & Tillisch, K. (2020) · Neurogastroenterology & Motility · doi:10.1111/nmo.13828 · Cited by 77
Metadata
- Authors
- Creswell, J. D., Lindsay, E. K., Villalba, D. K., & Chin, B.
- Affiliations
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Corresponding author
- Creswell, J. David
- Venue
- Psychosomatic Medicine
- Published
- 2019-04
- Volume
- 81
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 224-232
- ISSN
- 0033-3174 (ISSN-L)
- 1534-7796
- PMC
- PMC6613793
- OpenAlex
- W2913434882
- Semantic Scholar
- 8867cd2d818afb74ba3a269c72fa0e0653a68d13
- Cited by
- 252
- References
- 89
- Citations by year
- 2026: 30 · 2025: 49 · 2024: 41 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 46 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 8
- FWCI
- 4.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Psychosomatic Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (F32AT009508, R21AT008493, R01AT008685)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health, psychology, and well-being
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
- Keywords
- mindfulness training, mindfulness-based interventions, physical health, chronic pain, stress buffering, stress-related disorders, psoriasis, irritable bowel syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, diabetes mellitus, HIV, neuroimaging, biobehavioral mechanisms
- MeSH terms
- Health Status, Humans, Inflammation, Stress, Psychological, Health Behavior, Mindfulness
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