Link Between Meditation App Use and Well-Being Needs Further Investigation

Meditation apps offer users an accessible introduction to an ancient, evidence-based practice known to help quiet the mind and modestly reduce psychological distress. Exactly how much a person needs to use these apps to reap the benefits of guided meditation remains unclear, however, wrote Simon B. Goldberg (University of Wisconsin) and colleagues in a new article for Clinical Psychological Science. 

“There is not necessarily a clear dose-response association between how much someone is using a meditation app and how much they experience psychological benefits,” said Goldberg in an interview with APS. “While we did find some evidence suggesting a link, the presence or absence of this link was dependent on methodological decisions.” 

Understanding the optimal dosage for meditation apps could help researchers develop more effective interventions, Goldberg and colleagues explained. To this end, the researchers provided half of a group of 662 public school employees with access to a meditation training app for 4 weeks. The app consisted of an introduction module, audio lessons, and guided meditations on mindfulness. These materials were designed to support positive relationships, provide insight into the nature of thoughts and emotions, and guide participants to pursue purpose through daily activities. Participants were offered sitting and active meditations that could be completed while carrying out simple tasks, like washing dishes. 

On average, participants in the intervention group used the app for 10 out of 28 days for a total of 127 minutes of meditation, completing 20 activities in the app. Goldberg and colleagues found that the relationship between app use and psychological well-being varied significantly depending on how they measured app usage and the model they used to analyze the results.  

When Goldberg and colleagues analyzed their results using a method known as ordinary least squared (OLS) regression, a statistical strategy that helps researchers identify trends by plotting a straight line that aligns as closely as possible with their scattered datapoints, the waitlisted control group was found to have slightly higher levels of psychological distress at the end of 4 weeks than those who were given access to the meditation app. There was not a consistent difference, however, between those in the intervention group who used the app and those who did not. 

Furthermore, researchers found no evidence of a relationship between the number of days, minutes, or activities completed and participants’ psychological distress. When the researchers limited their sample of participants to those who used the app at least once, more days of use was associated with modestly lower psychological distress, however. 

When the researchers followed up with participants 3 months later, they once again found no association between the number of days, minutes, or activities participants completed and their psychological distress. This time, however, there was a small association between the number of activities completed and psychological distress among participants who used the app at least once. Once again, participants in the intervention group had lower psychological distress than those in the waitlist group, but this time those in the intervention group who did not use the app reported less distress than those who did. 

When the researchers analyzed the results using multilevel modeling (MLM), they found no relationship between usage and well-being. But, when the researchers combined their OLS and MLM analyses, they found that using the app for more minutes or days reduced psychological distress. 

Finally, when Goldberg and colleagues used latent class analysis, which allows researchers to identify clusters of data points, to explore the effects of activity type on well-being, they found that participants had the lowest distress levels during weeks when they accessed the insight and purpose modules, and the second lowest distress levels when they didn’t use the app at all. 

From these results and the small number of studies that have manipulated practice dosage experimentally, it remains unclear how, if at all, the amount that one uses a meditation app relates to their well-being, Goldberg and colleagues wrote. 

“My sense is that individuals use these kinds of digital tools in ways that are different from how we have traditionally used psychotherapy,” Goldberg said. “So, it may be no surprise there are not obvious dose-response associations emerging in all cases. To me, this highlights the early stage of this work and the need for further research really unpacking how people use tools like meditation apps to promote their mental health.” 

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Reference 

Goldberg, S. B., Kendall, A. D., Hirshberg, M. J., Dahl, C. J., Nahum-Shani, I., Davidson, R. J., & Bray, B. C. (2024) Is dosage of a meditation app associated with changes in psychological distress? It depends on how you ask. Clinical Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/21677026241266567