Cited by 125Mindfulness and Compassion InterventionsSleep and related disordersSleep and Wakefulness Research

Polysomnographic and Subjective Profiles of Sleep Continuity Before and After Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Partially Remitted Depression

Britton, Willoughby B., Haynes, Patricia L., Fridel, Keith W., Bootzin, Richard R.·2010·Psychosomatic Medicine

Abstract

Objectives: To examine whether mindfulness meditation (MM) was associated with changes in objectively measured polysomnographic (PSG) sleep profiles and to relate changes in PSG sleep to subjectively reported changes in sleep and depression within the context of a randomized controlled trial. Previous studies have indicated that mindfulness and other forms of meditation training are associated with improvements in sleep quality. However, none of these studies used objective PSG sleep recordings within longitudinal randomized controlled trials of naïve subjects. Methods: Twenty-six individuals with partially remitted depression were randomized into an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) course or a waitlist control condition. Pre-post measurements included PSG sleep studies and subjectively reported sleep and depression symptoms. Results: According to PSG sleep, MM practice was associated with several indices of increased cortical arousal, including more awakenings and stage 1 sleep and less slow-wave sleep relative to controls, in proportion to amount of MM practice. According to sleep diaries, subjectively reported sleep improved post MBCT but not above and beyond controls. Beck Depression Inventory scores decreased more in the MBCT group than controls. Improvements in depression were associated with increased subjective sleep continuity and increased PSG arousal. Conclusions: MM is associated with increases in objectively measured arousal during sleep with simultaneous improvements in subjectively reported sleep quality and mood disturbance. This pattern is similar to the profiles of positive responders to common antidepressant medications. BDI = Beck Depression Inventory; EEG = electroencephalogram; EMG = electromyogram; EOG = electrooculogram; HRSD = Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression; MBCT = Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy; MM = mindfulness meditation; NWAK = number of awakenings; PSG = polysomnograph; RCT = randomized controlled trial; REM = rapid eye movement; SE = sleep efficiency; SOL = sleep onset latency; SWS = slow-wave sleep; TIB = time in bed; TST = total sleep time; WASO = wake after sleep onset.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1097/psy.0b013e3181dc1bad

Cites

79 of 79 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

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?

  • Britton et al. found that as little as 5-10 min/day for 2-3 days/week increased self-reported sleep duration by more than an hour, but as practice times approached 30 min/day, sleep duration began to decrease and cortical arousal began to increase.

    “Britton et al.175 found that as little as 5–10 min/day for 2–3 days/week (<1 h/week) increased self-reported sleep duration by more than an hour, but that as practice times approached 30 min/day (>3 h/week), then sleep duration began to decrease (Fig. 2D) and cortical arousal began to increase (Fig. 2A–C).164”
  • Each objective index of increased cortical arousal was correlated with amount of home meditation practice in a linear dose-dependent fashion, supporting that increased arousal was due to meditation.

    “Each of these objective indices of increased cortical arousal was correlated with amount of home meditation practice in a linear dose-dependent fashion, which further supports that the increased arousal was due to meditation.”
  • In an EEG-based longitudinal randomized controlled trial, Britton et al. found increased wakefulness and decreased sleep propensity following Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy that was correlated with improved mood and meditation practice amount.

    “In an EEG-based longitudinal randomized controlled trial (RCT), Britton et al.164 found increased wakefulness and decreased sleep propensity following Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) that was correlated with improved mood and meditation practice amount.”
  • Over the trial, the MBCT group increased in stage-1 minutes, awakenings, and arousals, and decreased in percent slow-wave sleep compared to waitlist controls.

    “Over the course of the trial, the MBCT group increased in stage-1 minutes, awakenings, and arousals, and decreased in percent of slow-wave (stage 3 and 4) sleep compared to waitlist controls.”
  • Several polysomnographic sleep studies have found greater cortical arousal during sleep in meditators, including increased stage-1 sleep, alpha-theta wake-like EEG, arousals, reduced slow-wave sleep, and increased gamma.

    “In support of such increased wakefulness during sleep, several polysomnographic sleep studies have found greater cortical arousal during sleep in meditators, including increased stage-1 sleep, alpha-theta (wake-like) EEG, arousals, reduced slow-wave sleep,144, 162,164 and increased gamma.165”

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 80 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Britton, W. B., Haynes, P. L., Fridel, K. W., & Bootzin, R. R.
Affiliations
  • Brown University (US)
  • University of Arizona (US)
Corresponding author
Britton, Willoughby B.
Venue
Psychosomatic Medicine
Published
2010-07
Volume
72
Issue
6
Pages
539-548
ISSN
0033-3174 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2028773250
Cited by
125
References
80
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 10
FWCI
9.51
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Psychosomatic Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of Mental Health (T32MH067553, MH067553-05)
  • National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (T32AT001287)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
Keywords
mindfulness meditation, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, depression, sleep continuity, sleep quality, polysomnography, cortical arousal, sleep awakenings, slow-wave sleep, stage 1 sleep, antidepressant response
MeSH terms
Adult, Arousal, Major Depressive Disorder, Depressive Disorder, Major, Electroencephalography, Female, Humans, Male, Medical Records, Middle Aged, Personality Inventory, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Psychotherapy, Group, Surveys and Questionnaires, Severity of Illness Index, Sleep Wake Disorders, Comorbidity, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Treatment Outcome, Polysomnography, Meditation, Secondary Prevention

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