title: Mindfulness and psychologic well-being: are they related to type of meditation technique practiced?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examined whether practitioners of two meditation types differ on self-reported mindfulness skills and psychologic well-being.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional study comparing two convenience meditation groups drawn from local meditation centers, one group practicing mindfulness meditation (MM), and the other practicing transcendental meditation (TM).
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted at several meditation centers in southern Netherlands.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-five (35) participants practiced MM (69% women) and 20 practiced TM (42% women).
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants completed questionnaires on mindfulness skills (Mindful Attention Awareness Scale and two subscales from Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills), psychologic well-being (perceived stress, global mood, and quality of life), and meditation duration and frequency.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All self-reported mindfulness facets correlated with almost all measures of well-being across groups, but no differences were evident between meditation types regarding mindfulness or well-being. Days per week spent on meditation was the only multivariable predictor of both higher mindfulness and lower perceived stress.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that self-reported mindfulness and psychologic well-being may be associated with meditation frequency rather than any potential differences when comparing MM and TM in this study. Note that substantial differences between MM and TM groups were present on basic demographics, which were controlled statistically.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Psychology, Centre of Research on Psychology in Somatic Disease (CoRPS), Tilburg University, Tilburg, the Netherlands. d.schoormans@amc.uva.nl
authors.forename: Dounya
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schoormans
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nyklíček
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D019222:Mind-Body Relations, Metaphysical; D009426:Netherlands; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D057566:Self Report; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires