Mind the app: more time spent on headspace leads to beneficial day-to-day changes in mindfulness, depression, anxiety and stress in college students

Over a two-week period, 57 college students who used the Headspace app reported daily on their app use, mindfulness, depression, anxiety, and stress. App use averaged 86 minutes total. Day-to-day anxiety and stress decreased, while depression and mindfulness remained stable. Statistical models showed that time spent on the app increased momentary mindfulness, which in turn reduced stress, anxiety, and depression. A lagged effect emerged for anxiety: app use on one day boosted mindfulness that day, which lowered anxiety the next day. The results suggest that state mindfulness is a key mechanism through which the app improves mental health.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Fifty-seven college students downloaded the Headspace app and gave daily reports of app use, state mindfulness, state depression, state anxiety and state stress over a two-week period. App use was high (86 min). Day-to-day ratings of anxiety and stress decreased, while ratings of state depression and state mindfulness remained stable. Multilevel mediational models showed that spending time on the Headspace app increased an individual's mindfulness in the moment, which then decreased ratings of stress, anxiety and depression. There was a lagged effect for state anxiety, such that time-on-app on a given day increased mindfulness on the same day, which decreased feelings of anxiety on the next day. The results strongly suggest a sequence where app usage leads to changes in state mindfulness, which are then associated with beneficial changes in mental health. Thus, state mindfulness is a (or perhaps the) key ingredient of the beneficial effects of this mindfulness/meditation app, opening venues for intervention and a potential for cumulative effects.