Effects of Mindfulness Training on Posttraumatic Growth: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Posttraumatic growth (PTG) is a process of personal transformation following a traumatic life event in domains of life appreciation, interpersonal relationships, recognition of personal strengths, openness to taking a different life path, and spirituality. Mindfulness training has been tested as a facilitator of PTG; however, the extent of its impact is unknown. The goal of this study was to conduct a systematic literature review and meta-analysis to quantify the short-term effects of mindfulness training on PTG. We have also examined the impact of moderators, including the study design and the intervention type. Study selection criteria included publications prior to June 2016, English language, quantitative work, mindfulness as the basis of the intervention, and PTG as the outcome. Mixed effect meta-regression with standardized mean difference was used to compute overall effects. Outcomes included PTG as the global score and five individual domains. The final sample included 11 studies with a total of 1195 participants. All participants had medical trauma, and 98.6% were cancer-related. Median length of interventions was 8 weeks. Irrespective of study design or intervention type, a cumulative effect size for the global PTG score was .34, a small positive effect. Based on four studies, domains of relating to others and appreciation for life were affected the most (small to medium effect size). Based on five studies, change in spirituality had a medium to large effect size. Short impact of mindfulness training on PTG is beneficial, and effects vary across domains. Future work needs to examine longer-term effects and include non-medical populations.