Unwanted effects: Is there a negative side of meditation? A multicentre survey
Resumen: Objectives: Despite the long-term use and evidence-based efficacy of meditation and mindfulness-based interventions, there is still a lack of data about the possible unwanted effects (UEs) of these practices. The aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of UEs among meditation practitioners, considering moderating factors such as the type, frequency, and lifetime duration of the meditation practices. Methods: An online survey was developed and disseminated through several websites, such as Spanish-, English- and Portuguese-language scientific research portals related to mindfulness and meditation. After excluding people who did not answer the survey correctly or completely and those who had less than two months of meditation experience, a total of 342 people participated in the study. However, only 87 reported information about UEs. Results: The majority of the practitioners were women from Spain who were married and had a University education level. Practices were more frequently informal, performed on a daily basis, and followed by focused attention (FA). Among the participants, 25.4% reported UEs, showing that severity varies considerably. The information requested indicated that most of the UEs were transitory and did not lead to discontinuing meditation practice or the need for medical assistance. They were more frequently reported in relation to individual practice, during focused attention meditation, and when practising for more than 20 minutes and alone. The practice of body awareness was associated with UEs to a lesser extent, whereas focused attention was associated more with UEs. Conclusions: This is the first large-scale, multi-cultural study on the UEs of meditation. Despite its limitations, this study suggests that UEs are prevalent and transitory and should be further studied. We recommend the use of standardized questionnaires to assess the UEs of meditation practices.
Idioma: Inglés
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0183137
Año: 2017
Publicado en: PloS one 12, 9 (2017), [11 pp]
ISSN: 1932-6203

Factor impacto JCR: 2.766 (2017)
Categ. JCR: MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES rank: 15 / 64 = 0.234 (2017) - Q1 - T1
Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 1.164 - Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) (Q1) - Medicine (miscellaneous) (Q1) - Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (miscellaneous) (Q1)

Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/PSI2014-56303-REDT
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/PSI2013-41783-R
Tipo y forma: Article (Published version)
Área (Departamento): Area Psiquiatría (Dpto. Medicina, Psiqu. y Derm.)

Creative Commons You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.


Exportado de SIDERAL (2019-07-09-11:52:25)


Visitas y descargas

Este artículo se encuentra en las siguientes colecciones:
Articles



 Record created 2017-10-05, last modified 2019-07-09


Versión publicada:
 PDF
Rate this document:

Rate this document:
1
2
3
 
(Not yet reviewed)