Mindfulness trial showed early improvements and unfavorable longer-term changes
Among nursing students, early changes in symptoms and mindfulness did not translate into a consistently favorable longer-term pattern for either mindfulness program.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
The abstract reports early improvements with neurofeedback-assisted mindfulness and more limited early changes with mindfulness alone. Later, the mindfulness-only group showed increased depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and fatigue; the neurofeedback group showed lower mindfulness than controls. These mixed findings do not establish lasting benefit or prove that adding neurofeedback is superior.
The abstract omits effect sizes, uncertainty estimates, and exact follow-up times. It also does not clearly specify the comparison for every reported symptom change, limiting interpretation of both early improvements and later worsening.
What participants received
Both intervention groups completed online mindfulness training; the neurofeedback group also received feedback based on recorded brain electrical activity. The control group received general mental health education. Researchers analyzed patterns across repeated assessments.
Why later outcomes matter
Early reductions in depression, anxiety, and fatigue were reported in the neurofeedback group. Mindfulness alone improved mindfulness and fatigue relative to controls initially. Later unfavorable changes make a simple claim of sustained mental-health improvement misleading.
The original publication
The Effects of an Online Neurofeedback-Assisted Mindfulness-Based Intervention (NF-MBI) on Mental Health of Nursing Students in China: A Latent Growth Curve Modelling Analysis.
Dai Z, Jing S, Chen D et al.
Int J Nurs Pract · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 41177174
- Record checked
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