Abstract
Although several hundreds of apps are available that (cl)aim to promote mindfulness, only a few methodologically sound studies have evaluated the efficacy of these apps. This randomized waiting-list controlled trial therefore tested the hypothesis that one such app (the VGZ Mindfulness Coach) can achieve immediate and long-term improvements of mindfulness, quality of life, general psychiatric symptoms, and self-actualization. One hundred ninety-one experimental participants received the VGZ Mindfulness Coach, which offers 40 mindfulness exercises and background information about mindfulness without any form of therapeutic guidance. Compared to 186 control participants, they reported large (Cohen’s d = 0.77) and statistically significant increases of mindfulness after 8 weeks and small-to-medium increases of the Observing, Describing, Acting with awareness, Nonjudging, and Nonreactivity mindfulness facets as measured with the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (Cohen’s d = 0.66, 0.26, 0.49, 0.34, and 0.43, respectively). Also, there were large decreases of general psychiatric symptoms (GHQ-12; Cohen’s d = −0.68) and moderate increases of psychological, social, and environmental quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF; Cohen’s d = 0.38, 0.38, and 0.36, respectively). Except for social quality of life, these gains were maintained for at least 3 months. We conclude that it is possible to achieve durable positive effects on mindfulness, general psychiatric symptoms, and several aspects of quality of life at low costs with smartphone apps for mindfulness such as the VGZ Mindfulness Coach.
Highlights
The origins of the current clinical and research interest in mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) can be traced back to a landmark study by Jon Kabat-Zinn (1982), who demonstrated the beneficial effects of the BStress Reduction and Relaxation Program^ on pain, mood, and psychiatric symptomatology in chronic pain patients
In a metaanalysis of 21 outcome studies, MBIs were effective across a range of clinical and nonclinical samples (d = 0.59) and large effects were found for psychological- and psychopathological-dependent variables (e.g., d = 0.86 for depression)
While most participants had discontinued or drastically reduced their use of the app at follow-up, the improvements were maintained for at least 3 months, most effects were somewhat attenuated. An exception to this pattern was social quality of life, which had returned to baseline levels at follow-up
Summary
The origins of the current clinical and research interest in mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) can be traced back to a landmark study by Jon Kabat-Zinn (1982), who demonstrated the beneficial effects of the BStress Reduction and Relaxation Program^ on pain, mood, and psychiatric symptomatology in chronic pain patients. Howells et al (2016) compared Headspace’s smartphonebased Take 10 program (https://www.headspace.com), consisting of 10 min of mindfulness practice over ten consecutive days, to a neutral but active control task (the Catch Notes app) in a nonclinical population They found significant improvements of positive affect and depression, but not of satisfaction with life, social-psychological prosperity, and negative affect. Both Ly et al (2014) and Howells et al (2016) found improvements on several clinical outcome variables, they did not measure mindfulness as the alleged therapeutic mechanism underlying these improvements In addition to these RCTs of MBI apps, Chittaro and Vianello (2016) recently provided a thorough review of computer-supported mindfulness techniques, and reported an uncontrolled evaluation of the smartphone-based AEON app in the everyday lives of a large community sample of experienced and nonexperienced meditators. We expected that participants who received the VGZ Mindfulness Coach would demonstrate greater improvements on all these outcomes than participants in the WLC condition
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