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Mindfulness Interventions for Adolescents With Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Cynthia Harbeck-Weber1, Sammy T Murad1, Neha Ramachandran1
1Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
European Journal of Pain (London, England)
|May 7, 2026
Summary
Mindfulness-based interventions show promise for improving pain, mood, and function in adolescents with chronic pain. Further high-quality randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm these benefits.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pain Management
- Adolescent Health
- Mindfulness-Based Interventions
Background:
- Chronic pain significantly impacts adolescents' lives.
- Existing treatments, like cognitive-behavioral therapy, are not universally effective.
- Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are gaining attention as an alternative approach.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review and meta-analyze the effectiveness of MBIs for adolescents with chronic pain.
- To assess MBIs' impact on pain intensity, catastrophizing, acceptance, interference, functioning, quality of life, anxiety, and depression.
- To identify research gaps in MBI effectiveness for pediatric chronic pain.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature search across seven electronic databases up to January 2, 2025.
- Inclusion of English-language studies with >5 patients, excluding intensive interdisciplinary pain treatment.
- Assessment of risk of bias using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale.
Main Results:
- Fourteen studies with 323 adolescents were analyzed.
- Significant within-group improvements were observed in pain intensity, catastrophizing, acceptance, interference, functioning, depression, anxiety, and quality of life.
- Effect sizes at follow-up were moderate to large, with variable-length interventions showing greater pre-post changes.
Conclusions:
- Adolescents with chronic pain reported improvements following MBIs.
- The certainty of evidence is generally low due to study design and risk of bias.
- Rigorous randomized controlled trials are necessary to substantiate these findings.
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