biostudies-literatureUnknown8(9)Sparacio AMindfulness witnessed a substantial popularity surge in the past decade, especially as digitally self-administered interventions became available at relatively low costs. Yet, it is uncertain whether they effectively help reduce stress. In a preregistered (OSF https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/UF4JZ ; retrospective registration at ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06308744 ) multi-site study (n_sites = 37, n_participants = 2,239, 70.4% women, M_age = 22.4, s.d._age = 10.1, all fluent English speakers), we experimentally tested whether four single, standalone mindfulness exercises effectively reduced stress, using Bayesian mixed-effects models. All exercises proved to be more efficacious than the active control. We observed a mean difference of 0.27 (d = -0.56; 95% confidence interval, -0.43 to -0.69) between the control condition (M = 1.95, s.d. = 0.50) and the condition with the largest stress reduction (body scan: M = 1.68, s.d. = 0.46). Our findings suggest that mindfulness may be beneficial for reducing self-reported short-term stress for English speakers from higher-income countries.Nature human behaviour1716-1725https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC11420060biostudies-literatureSelf-administered mindfulness interventions reduce stress in a large, randomized controlled multi-site study.PMC11420060Griffin SMDeSousa MRoss RMSchmidt KDerrick JLMcDonald JSSegundo JFransham CDickerson SSSparacio ADunne SBurgess HLaBoucane AJaklin VMeese WBWatermeyer TJSpiessens CFord MBHowell JLJiga-Boy GMHawk CERibeiro GGoldsmith CMvan der Schans KLNg Tseung-Wong CLandvatter JBaranski MFPescatore SBrenton SRopovik IStandiford Reyes LIJzerman HBenson JMWong CCTacana TLinden AHBenz ABEMa-Kellams CWunder ZIPierce JDNylin CEDavis WEFuglestad PTKovas YZiebell PO'Brien LVDay MVFrancis ZHiggins WCDiller SJAllahghadri MJewell CLBrooks JCStanley SKStrickland MGUrgyen TKubler ASkakoon-Sparling SBlocker HStone BMGiorgini FUchino BNfalseSelf-administered mindfulness interventions reduce stress in a large, randomized controlled multi-site study.Mindfulness witnessed a substantial popularity surge in the past decade, especially as digitally self-administered interventions became available at relatively low costs. Yet, it is uncertain whether they effectively help reduce stress. In a preregistered (OSF https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/UF4JZ ; retrospective registration at ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06308744 ) multi-site study (n_sites = 37, n_participants = 2,239, 70.4% women, M_age = 22.4, s.d._age = 10.1, all fluent English speakers), we experimentally tested whether four single, standalone mindfulness exercises effectively reduced stress, using Bayesian mixed-effects models. All exercises proved to be more efficacious than the active control. We observed a mean difference of 0.27 (d = -0.56; 95% confidence interval, -0.43 to -0.69) between the control condition (M = 1.95, s.d. = 0.50) and the condition with the largest stress reduction (body scan: M = 1.68, s.d. = 0.46). Our findings suggest that mindfulness may be beneficial for reducing self-reported short-term stress for English speakers from higher-income countries.2024-01-01T00:00:00Z2024 Sep2026-04-29T23:18:29.767Z2025-04-04T19:38:51.622ZS-EPMC114200603886281510.1038/s41562-024-01907-7