The Evolution of Mindfulness from 1916 to 2019

This study explores the evolution of the concept of mindfulness over the last 104 years in terms of the content, practice, and research development of all relevant studies reported in the academic literature.

We identified 15,764 mindfulness-related papers published between 1916 and 2019, and analyzed the frequency of publications, types of journals, keywords, and included disciplines. Using topic modeling methodology, hidden semantic structures were discovered in the collection of papers allowing the development of sets of topics.

The results revealed a sharp increase in mindfulness research since 2000, a trend suggesting that research in this area has increased exponentially and may continue to do so for some time. The research was published in academic journals across a variety of subjects, from psychology to medicine. Three epochs of published studies emerged, these being epoch 1 (E1) (1916–1999), epoch 2 (E2) (2000–2009), and epoch 3 (E3) (2010–2019)—with the studies within each epoch containing different sets of frequently used keywords and research topics. In E1, publications largely reflected a theoretical or spiritual approach in their conceptualization of mindfulness that gradually shifted to more generalized pragmatism. This then evolved into more specific inquiry into a variety of mindfulness-based interventions in E2. In E3, the research moved towards more robust validation approaches for establishing the efficacy of therapeutic mindfulness programs and professionalizing those who deliver them.

Our analysis suggests that future research could move towards a more in-depth examination of long-term, lifespan experiences with mindfulness. In addition, we propose that content experts from various fields need to work together to integrate diverse perspectives on mindfulness, thus deepening our knowledge of its fundamental nature, attributes, and potentialities.