Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Apr 16, 2018
Date Accepted: Dec 31, 2018
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Theoretical Predictors of Mindfulness Meditation Mobile App Usage: The Role of Intention and Executive Function
ABSTRACT
Background:
Mindfulness meditation has become increasingly popular over the last few years, due in part to the increase in mobile applications incorporating the practice. Although studies have demonstrated the potential of mindfulness meditation to positively impact mental and physical health outcomes, little has been uncovered about what predicts engagement in mindfulness meditation. Understanding the predictors of mindfulness meditation may help practitioners and phone app developers improve intervention strategies and app experience.
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to use the Theory of Planned Behavior and Temporal Self-Regulation Theory to determine factors predicting mindfulness meditation mobile app use.
Methods:
The sample consisted of 85 undergraduate students with no prior mindfulness meditation experience. During their first lab visit, participants received a brief training about mindfulness, participated in tasks to measure their executive functioning, and completed a survey to measure Theory of Planned Behavior constructs about mindfulness meditation (beliefs, social norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions). Over the course of the following two weeks, participants logged the days and minutes that they practiced mindfulness meditation using a phone app. Stepwise regression modeling was used to analyze the data.
Results:
On average, participants practiced mindfulness on 9.3 days and for 64.3 minutes over the 14 day period. Participant demographic factors did not significantly explain the model variance for number of days practicing mindfulness. In step 2, participant beliefs, social norms, and perceived behavioral control explained model variance for the number of minutes practicing mindfulness, but not for number of days practicing mindfulness. Participant intentions were predictive of the number of minutes (b = 33.87, p = .001) and days (b = 3.17, p < .001) practicing mindfulness. Participant executive functioning did not predict mindfulness meditation practice nor did it moderate the link between intentions and mindfulness meditation practice.
Conclusions:
These results suggest that the Theory of Planned Behavior is useful in predicting use of mindfulness meditation phone apps, particularly as it pertains to participant beliefs about social norms and their intentions to practice mindfulness. However, given that participant executive functioning was not a predictor or moderator of mindfulness practice, this suggests that Temporal Self-Regulation Theory may be less useful for explaining mindfulness meditation behaviors using phone apps. The results are important for public health professionals, highlighting a need to focus on social norms and intentions to promote mindfulness meditation using phone apps. For psychotherapists and other medical practitioners encouraging mindfulness meditation as a therapy, phone apps may be a particularly effective method to encourage consistency and length of time practicing mindfulness.
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