Digital Mindfulness-Based Interventions and Their Psychosocial Mental Health Outcomes
Keywords:
Digital mindfulness, psychosocial mental health, digital mental health, emotional regulation, social connectedness, qualitative research.Abstract
This study aimed to explain users’ lived experiences of digital mindfulness-based interventions and identify their perceived psychological and social health outcomes. This qualitative study was conducted using conventional content analysis. The participants were 20 residents of Tehran who had used a mindfulness mobile application, web-based program, or synchronous online mindfulness course for at least eight weeks. Purposive maximum-variation sampling was applied to achieve diversity in age, gender, marital status, education, occupational status, intervention format, and duration of use. Data were collected exclusively through individual semi-structured interviews. Conceptual and theoretical saturation was reached after the eighteenth interview, followed by two confirmatory interviews. The interviews were audio-recorded with permission, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed inductively using NVivo version 14. Meaning units were identified, condensed, coded, compared, and organized into subcategories and main categories. Credibility and trustworthiness were enhanced through participant checking, peer review, maximum-variation sampling, reflexive memoing, prolonged engagement with the data, and maintenance of an audit trail. Five main categories were identified: reduced psychological arousal and improved emotional regulation; enhanced self-awareness, cognitive distancing, and self-compassion; improved interpersonal interactions and social connectedness; accessibility, autonomy, and integration of mindfulness into everyday life; and fragile engagement due to digital fatigue, limited human feedback, privacy concerns, insufficient personalization, and difficulty managing intense experiences. Participants described reductions in stress, repetitive negative thinking, impulsive emotional reactions, and interpersonal conflict. They also reported greater listening capacity, empathy, boundary awareness, and purposeful social participation. Nevertheless, inconsistent practice, technological distractions, feelings of isolation during self-guided practice, and uncertainty about the accuracy or safety of digital content limited perceived benefits. Digital mindfulness interventions may promote psychosocial mental health by strengthening present-moment attention, acceptance, emotional regulation, self-compassion, and deliberate interpersonal responding. Their flexibility and accessibility make them potentially valuable as preventive, complementary, and low-threshold mental health resources. However, they should not be regarded as universal substitutes for professional assessment or treatment. Persian-language, culturally responsive programs that combine autonomous practice with optional human guidance, privacy protection, risk screening, crisis referral, personalization, and engagement-support features are likely to be safer and more sustainable.
Downloads
References
Bishop, S. R., Lau, M., Shapiro, S., Carlson, L., Anderson, N. D., Carmody, J., Segal, Z. V., Abbey, S., Speca, M., Velting, D., & Devins, G. (2004). Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 11(3), 230–241. https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy.bph077
Britton, W. B., Lindahl, J. R., Cooper, D. J., Canby, N. K., & Palitsky, R. (2021). Defining and measuring meditation-related adverse effects in mindfulness-based programs. Clinical Psychological Science, 9(6), 1185–1204. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702621996340
Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(4), 822–848. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.4.822
Champion, L., Economides, M., & Chandler, C. (2018). The efficacy of a brief app-based mindfulness intervention on psychosocial outcomes in healthy adults: A pilot randomized controlled trial. PLOS ONE, 13(12), e0209482. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209482
Creswell, J. D. (2017). Mindfulness interventions. Annual Review of Psychology, 68, 491–516. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-042716-051139
Donald, J. N., Sahdra, B. K., Van Zanden, B., Duineveld, J. J., Atkins, P. W. B., Marshall, S. L., & Ciarrochi, J. (2019). Does your mindfulness benefit others? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the link between mindfulness and prosocial behaviour. British Journal of Psychology, 110(1), 101–125. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12338
Economides, M., Martman, J., Bell, M. J., & Sanderson, B. (2018). Improvements in stress, affect, and irritability following brief use of a mindfulness-based smartphone app: A randomized controlled trial. Mindfulness, 9, 1584–1593. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-018-0905-4
Gál, É., Ștefan, S., & Cristea, I. A. (2021). The efficacy of mindfulness meditation apps in enhancing users’ well-being and mental health-related outcomes: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Affective Disorders, 279, 131–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.09.134
Goldberg, S. B., Tucker, R. P., Greene, P. A., Davidson, R. J., Wampold, B. E., Kearney, D. J., & Simpson, T. L. (2018). Mindfulness-based interventions for psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 59, 52–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2017.10.011
Goyal, M., Singh, S., Sibinga, E. M. S., Gould, N. F., Rowland-Seymour, A., Sharma, R., Berger, Z., Sleicher, D., Maron, D. D., Shihab, H. M., Ranasinghe, P. D., Linn, S., Saha, S., Bass, E. B., & Haythornthwaite, J. A. (2014). Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Internal Medicine, 174(3), 357–368. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.13018
Graneheim, U. H., & Lundman, B. (2004). Qualitative content analysis in nursing research: Concepts, procedures and measures to achieve trustworthiness. Nurse Education Today, 24(2), 105–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2003.10.001
Gu, J., Strauss, C., Bond, R., & Cavanagh, K. (2015). How do mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction improve mental health and well-being? A systematic review and meta-analysis of mediation studies. Clinical Psychology Review, 37, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2015.01.006
Hölzel, B. K., Lazar, S. W., Gard, T., Schuman-Olivier, Z., Vago, D. R., & Ott, U. (2011). How does mindfulness meditation work? Proposing mechanisms of action from a conceptual and neural perspective. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6(6), 537–559. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691611419671
Huberty, J., Eckert, R., Larkey, L., Joeman, L., & Mesa, R. (2019). Experiences of using a consumer-based mobile meditation app to improve fatigue in myeloproliferative patients: Qualitative study. JMIR Cancer, 5(2), e14292. https://doi.org/10.2196/14292
Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and future. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10(2), 144–156. https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy.bpg016
Keyes, C. L. M. (2002). The mental health continuum: From languishing to flourishing in life. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 43(2), 207–222. https://doi.org/10.2307/3090197
Khoury, B., Sharma, M., Rush, S. E., & Fournier, C. (2015). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for healthy individuals: A meta-analysis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 78(6), 519–528. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2015.03.009
Linardon, J., Messer, M., Goldberg, S. B., & Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, M. (2024). The efficacy of mindfulness apps on symptoms of depression and anxiety: An updated meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Clinical Psychology Review, 107, 102370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2023.102370
Lindsay, E. K., Young, S., Brown, K. W., Smyth, J. M., & Creswell, J. D. (2019). Mindfulness training reduces loneliness and increases social contact in a randomized controlled trial. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116(9), 3488–3493. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1813588116
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Sage.
Osborne, E. L., Ainsworth, B., Hooper, N., & Atkinson, M. J. (2023). Experiences of using digital mindfulness-based interventions: Rapid scoping review and thematic synthesis. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 25, e44220. https://doi.org/10.2196/44220
Sevilla-Llewellyn-Jones, J., Santesteban-Echarri, O., Pryor, I., McGorry, P., & Alvarez-Jimenez, M. (2018). Web-based mindfulness interventions for mental health treatment: Systematic review and meta-analysis. JMIR Mental Health, 5(3), e10278. https://doi.org/10.2196/10278
Sommers-Spijkerman, M., Austin, J., Bohlmeijer, E., & Pots, W. (2021). New evidence in the booming field of online mindfulness: An updated meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. JMIR Mental Health, 8(7), e28168. https://doi.org/10.2196/28168
Spijkerman, M. P. J., Pots, W. T. M., & Bohlmeijer, E. T. (2016). Effectiveness of online mindfulness-based interventions in improving mental health: A review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Clinical Psychology Review, 45, 102–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2016.03.009
Tang, Y.-Y., Hölzel, B. K., & Posner, M. I. (2015). The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 16(4), 213–225. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3916
Tong, A., Sainsbury, P., & Craig, J. (2007). Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research: A 32-item checklist for interviews and focus groups. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 19(6), 349–357. https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzm042
Winter, N., Russell, L., Ugalde, A., White, V., & Livingston, P. (2022). Engagement strategies to improve adherence and retention in web-based mindfulness programs: Systematic review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 24(1), e30026. https://doi.org/10.2196/30026
