{"id":3484,"date":"2014-01-12T14:51:03","date_gmt":"2014-01-12T14:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/?p=3484"},"modified":"2014-08-11T11:02:08","modified_gmt":"2014-08-11T10:02:08","slug":"the-effectiveness-of-meditation-a-meta-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2014\/01\/the-effectiveness-of-meditation-a-meta-analysis.html","title":{"rendered":"The effectiveness of Meditation, a meta-analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

This week the US\u00a0Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) released a massive meta-analysis on the effectiveness of meditation (variously defined) for a number of healthcare applications. While most news articles point you to the JAMA (subscriber only) link<\/a>, you can read the entire study for free here<\/a>\u00a0(.pdf).<\/p>\n

The conclusion of the study will not surprise those who have studied or practiced meditation for any length of time: meditation is a mixed-bag, in terms of definitions, applications, and outcomes<\/strong>. The generalization that meditation is basically a good thing<\/em>, is supported by the study. However, the truism that meditation doesn\u2019t help with everything is also clearly reinforced. As the authors state in their brief abstract of the 400+ page paper:<\/p>\n

Meditation programs, in particular mindfulness programs, reduce multiple negative \u00a0dimensions of psychological stress. Stronger study designs are needed to determine the effects of meditation programs in improving the positive dimensions of mental health as well as stress-related behavioral outcomes. (p.viii)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course you might not guess this based on many of the headlines out there, which stressed the positive outcomes of meditation:<\/p>\n