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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Mar 1.
Published in final edited form as: JAMA Intern Med. 2014 Mar;174(3):357–368. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.13018

Table 1.

Study inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Exclusion
Population and Condition of Interest

  • Adult populations (18 years or older)

  • Clinical (medical or psychiatric) diagnosis, defined as any condition (e.g. high blood pressure, anxiety) including a stressor

  • Studies of children (The type and nature of meditation children receive may be significantly different from adults.)

  • Studies of otherwise healthy individuals
Interventions Structured meditation programs (any systematic or protocolized meditation programs that follow predetermined curricula) consisting of, at a minimum, at least 4 hours of training with instructions to practice outside the training session

These include:
Mindfulness-based:

  • MBSR

  • MBCT

  • Vipassana

  • Zen

  • Other mindfulness meditation


Mantra-based:

  • TM

  • Other mantra meditation


Other meditation		 Meditation programs in which the meditation is not the foundation and majority of the intervention

These include:

  • DBT

  • ACT

  • Any of the movement-based meditations such as yoga (e.g. Iyenger, hatha, shavasana), tai chi, and qi gong (chi kung)

  • Aromatherapy

  • Biofeedback

  • Neurofeedback

  • Hypnosis

  • Autogenic training

  • Psychotherapy

  • Laughter therapy

  • Therapeutic touch

  • Eye movement desensitization reprocessing

  • Relaxation therapy

  • Spiritual therapy

  • Breathing exercise, pranayama

  • exercise

  • Any intervention that is given remotely, or only by video or audio to an individual without the involvement of a meditation teacher physically present
Comparisons of Interest Active control is defined as a program that is matched in time and attention to the intervention group for the purpose of matching expectations of benefit. Examples include “attention control,” “educational control,” or another therapy, such as progressive muscle relaxation, that the study compares to the intervention.

  • A non-specific active control only matches time and attention, and is not a known therapy.

  • A specific active control compares the intervention to another known therapy, such as progressive muscle relaxation.

 Studies that only evaluate a wait-list/usual-care control or do not include a comparison group
Study Design RCTs with an active control Non-randomized designs, such as observational studies.
Timing and Setting Longitudinal studies that occur in general and clinical settings

ACT = Acceptance and Commitment Therapy; DBT = Dialectical Behavioral Therapy; MBCT = Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy; MBSR = Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction; TM = Transcendental Meditation; RCT = Randomized Controlled Trials

We excluded articles with no original data (reviews, editorials, and comments), studies published in abstract form only, and dissertations.