New research published in PLOS One suggests that meditation may enhance certain aspects of psychological well-being in older adults. The study, which is the longest randomized meditation trial to date, suggests that specific meditation practices can improve awareness and insight, although the impact on overall psychological well-being is more nuanced.
The study stemmed from a growing awareness of the challenges faced by an ageing population in today’s rapidly evolving society. Researchers were particularly interested in exploring non-pharmacological methods to enhance mental health among older adults. This interest was fueled by the increasing complexity of societal challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and technological advancements, which have imposed unique pressures on this demographic.
The study aimed to examine whether meditation could be a viable approach to support the psychological well-being of older individuals, who are often more vulnerable to mental health issues due to various age-related changes and societal factors.
“As the global population ages, it is increasingly crucial to understand how we can support older adults in maintaining and deepening their psychological wellbeing. In our study, we tested whether long-term meditation training can enhance important dimensions of wellbeing,” said study author Marco Schlosser, a research fellow at the Division of Psychiatry at University College London.
Conducted by the European Union’s Horizon 2020-funded Medit-Ageing (Silver Santé Study) research group, the study 137 healthy French-speaking individuals aged 65 to 84. The participants were divided into three groups: a meditation group, an English language training group (serving as an active comparison), and a no-intervention control group.
The meditation group underwent an 18-month program consisting of weekly group sessions, daily home practice, and a retreat day. The program included a nine-month mindfulness module followed by a nine-month loving-kindness and compassion module. Similarly, the English language training group received instruction matching the format and duration of the meditation training but focused on improving language skills.
The researchers used several measures to evaluate the impact of these interventions. The Psychological Well-being Scale was employed to assess six dimensions of well-being: self-acceptance, positive relations with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and personal growth. Additionally, the World Health Organization’s Quality of Life psychological subscale was used to gauge aspects like positive feelings, self-esteem, and the absence of negative feelings. To specifically measure the effects of meditation, the researchers developed composite scores based on meditation-based well-being dimensions of awareness, connection, and insight.
The findings revealed a complex picture. Meditation training outperformed the English training and no-intervention groups in terms of meditation-specific well-being dimensions.
“Awareness describes an undistracted and intimate attentiveness to one’s thoughts, feelings, and surroundings, which can support a sense of calm and deep satisfaction,” Schlosser explained. “Connection captures feelings such as respect, gratitude, and kinship that can support more positive relationships with others. Insight refers to a self-knowledge and understanding of how thoughts and feelings participate in shaping our perception – and how to transform unhelpful patterns of thought relating to ourselves and the world.”
However, there were no significant changes observed in the overall Psychological Well-being Scale scores across the three groups.
“The benefits of meditation training to an established measure of psychological quality of life were not superior to English language training, while neither intervention significantly impacted another widely used measure of psychological wellbeing,” Schlosser told PsyPost. “This may be because these two established measures do not cover the qualities and depth of human flourishing that can potentially be cultivated by longer-term meditation training, so benefits to awareness, connection and insight are missed.”
One of the intriguing aspects of the study was the differential impact of the two meditation modules. The initial 9-month mindfulness module did not significantly increase any meditation-based well-being dimensions. In contrast, the subsequent loving-kindness and compassion module led to significant improvements. This suggests that the type of meditation practice and its duration can have varying impacts on psychological health.
The study, however, had its limitations. The participant group was relatively homogeneous, mostly comprising well-educated, healthy individuals from a specific geographic location, which may limit the applicability of the findings to a broader population. The reliance on self-reported data could also introduce biases. Additionally, the study did not include follow-up data to assess long-term effects post-intervention.
The study, “An 18-month meditation training selectively improves psychological well-being in older adults: A secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial“, was authored by Marco Schlosser, Olga M. Klimecki, Fabienne Collette, Julie Gonneaud, Matthias Kliegel, Natalie L. Marchant, Gaël Chételat, Antoine Lutz, and the Medit-Ageing Research Group.
