Stress Reduction

Research summary

• Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and related mind-body practices are supported by multiple meta-analyses, including one on physiological stress markers and another examining the psychological mechanisms behind MBSR's benefits, plus a randomized controlled trial showing improved sleep and emotion regulation in depressed elderly adults.
• A separate meta-analysis on mind-body exercise in menopausal women adds further supporting evidence for a related population.
• This combination of physiological, mechanistic, and clinical-trial evidence across multiple independent meta-analyses gives reasonably solid support for stress-reduction practices, though effect sizes vary across studies and populations, and long-term outcome data beyond psychological and physiological markers are more limited.