Acute Effects of Brief Mindfulness Inductions on Executive Function Performance: A Systematic Review and Three-Level Meta-Analysis

Evidence regarding the acute effect of brief mindfulness exercises (mindfulness inductions) on cognitive performance and executive functions (EFs) is mixed. This meta-analysis aimed to estimate the overall effect on the component of EFs (i.e. inhibitory control, working memory and cognitive flexibility) and investigate if the level of induced state of mindfulness explains this effect. The current pre-registered, three-level meta-analysis and systematic review included 66 published studies with 187 effect sizes, including a total of 2,503 participants in the experimental groups and 2,511 participants in control groups. Standardized mean differences were calculated for the post-test difference between the mindfulness and the control condition. Results from three-level meta-analytic model revealed that there is a small but significant effect of mindfulness inductions on overall EFs (k = 66, g = 0.09 95% CI [0.03, 0.16], p < 0.01). Moderator analyses did not indicate significant differences across EF components (working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility); descriptive subgroup analyses yielded larger pooled estimates for inhibitory control than for cognitive flexibility and working memory. No evidence that the level of induced state mindfulness predicts effect sizes. It should be noted that moderator analysis might have been underpowered so these non-significant results should be interpreted with caution. Brief mindfulness exercises do not seem to improve overall EFs substantially. We conclude that the practical relevance of these null to small effect sizes is very limited.