Do gender, anxiety, or sleep quality predict mindfulness-based stress reduction outcomes?
Open accessAbstract
Although mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) can improve health and well-being, less is known about factors that predict outcomes. This prospective observational study examined gender and baseline anxiety and sleep quality as predictors of change in emotion regulation and stress symptoms following an 8-week MBSR program. Women and men reported similar improvement in stress symptoms and cognitive reappraisal, whereas men improved more in emotion suppression. Individuals with higher anxiety and worse sleep pre-treatment benefited most in terms of decreased stress. Evaluating pre-treatment characteristics could help determine optimal candidates for MBSR training, and could optimize outcomes for both women and men.
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The evidence on such predictors is mixed and may depend on sample characteristics, follow-up length, and other design features.
“but the evidence is mixed5,6,55,81 and may be influenced by study sample characteristics, length of follow-up, and other study design features.28,56”
From Moderators and Nonspecific Predictors of Treatment Benefits in a Randomized Trial of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction vs Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy vs Usual Care for Chronic Low Back Pain (2023) · cites this paper as [6]
The Gender differences in MBSR response section says predictor findings need replication across studies, populations, and outcomes. The Strengths, limitations, and future directions section identifies sample composition and design limitations. These passages support the possibility that findings vary with sample and design, but the paper does not link that variation to length of follow-up. No page numbers were provided in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.84)
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- Authors
- Brown, M. M., Arigo, D., Wolever, R. Q., Smoski, M. J., Hall, M. H., Brantley, J. G., & Greeson, J. M.
- Affiliations
- Rowan University (US)
- Vanderbilt University (US)
- Duke University (US)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Duke Medical Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Greeson, Jeffrey M
- Venue
- Journal of Health Psychology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2020-06-03
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 13
- Pages
- 2656-2662
- ISSN
- 1359-1053 (ISSN-L)
- 1461-7277
- PMC
- PMC7814316
- OpenAlex
- W3029015627
- Cited by
- 22
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 1.20
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Journal of Health Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (K23 MH087754)
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (K99 AT004945)
- Fannie E. Rippel Foundation (Research infrastructure grant.)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Keywords
- mindfulness-based stress reduction, predictors of treatment outcome, gender differences, anxiety, sleep quality, emotion regulation, cognitive reappraisal, emotional suppression, stress symptoms
- MeSH terms
- Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Female, Humans, Male, Sleep, Stress, Psychological, Treatment Outcome, Mindfulness
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