Using Personalized Anchors to Establish Routine Meditation Practice With a Mobile App: Randomized Controlled Trial

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Science
• Digital Health
• Mindfulness Studies

Background:

• Mobile health apps offer physical and mental health benefits through mindfulness meditation.
• Low user engagement limits the effectiveness of mobile health apps for sustained health benefits.
• Pairing meditation with existing routines (anchoring) may enhance user persistence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of personalized anchors (PA) versus fixed anchors (FA) for establishing persistent meditation routines using the Calm mobile app.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial assigned participants to PA, FA, or a control group.
• Participants meditated for 10 minutes daily via the Calm app for 8 weeks, with data collected for an additional 8-week follow-up.
• Surveys assessed demographics, socioeconomic status, and habit strength at baseline, 8 weeks, and 16 weeks.

Main Results:

• The fixed anchor (FA) group demonstrated significantly higher odds of daily meditation during the intervention.
• Both groups experienced a decline in meditation odds, but the FA group showed a smaller decline during follow-up.
• Frequent adherence to anchoring, particularly morning anchors, correlated with more persistent meditation routines.

Conclusions:

• The anchoring strategy can foster persistent meditation habits with mobile apps.
• High adherence to anchoring, especially morning anchors, is linked to the most sustained meditation practice.
• Future research should explore combining anchoring with other interventions, like incentives, to improve user engagement.