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I report a series of meta-analyses on aging and executive control. A first set of analyses failed to find evidence for specific age-related deficits in tasks of selective attention (inhibition of return, negative priming, flanker, and Stroop) or tasks tapping local task-shifting costs (reading with distractors is an exception) but found evidence for specific age-related deficits in tasks of divided attention (dual tasking and global task-shifting costs). The second set examined whether executive control explained any age-related variance in complex cognition (episodic memory, reasoning, spatial abilities) over and beyond the effects of speed and working memory; it did not. Thus, the purported decline in executive control with advancing age is clearly not general, and it may ultimately play only a small role in explaining age-related deficits in complex cognition.

This meta-analysis examined the effects of process-based executive-function and working memory training (49 articles, 61 independent samples) in older adults (> 60 years). The interventions resulted in significant effects on performance on the trained task and near-transfer tasks; significant results were obtained for the net pretest-to-posttest gain relative to active and passive control groups and for the net effect at posttest relative to active and passive control groups. Far-transfer effects were smaller than near-transfer effects but were significant for the net pretest-to-posttest gain relative to passive control groups and for the net gain at posttest relative to both active and passive control groups. We detected marginally significant differences in training-induced improvements between working memory and executive-function training, but no differences between the training-induced improvements observed in older adults and younger adults, between the benefits associated with adaptive and nonadaptive training, or between the effects in active and passive control conditions. Gains did not vary with total training time.

Objectives To examine whether mindfulness training is associated with changes in objective attention performance. Methods Three meta-analyses were conducted: (a) a meta-analysis comparing the effects of mindfulness interventions with those of control treatments (109 effect sizes from 40 studies); (b) a meta-analysis comparing attention performance of long-term meditators with that of meditation-naïve participants (59 effect sizes from 18 studies); and (c) a meta-analysis comparing correlations between trait mindfulness and attention (197 effect sizes from 28 studies). Results Average effect sizes were significant (Hedges’ g = 0.29 for intervention studies, 0.32 for long-term meditation practice; r between trait mindfulness and attention = 0.12). All three analyses found significant effects on inhibition/executive control. Two out of the three analyses showed significant effects on updating and sustained attention. Shifting yielded significant effects only for interventions. Effects were larger for accuracy than for speed. Within intervention studies, focused attention led to significant effects, but inclusion of a yoga component decreased effects significantly. Number of sessions was positively related to attention performance. In long-term meditators, type of meditation practiced did not significantly moderate the effect size. Within trait mindfulness studies, only unidimensional measures and measures of acting with awareness yielded an average correlation that was significantly different from zero. Conclusions Mindfulness training as an intervention and a long-term practice is indeed associated with reliable changes in objective attention performance. The finding that this is also true for trait mindfulness suggests that mindfulness is a key mechanism.

Depression has been shown to negatively impact neurocognitive functions, particularly those governed by fronto-subcortical networks, such as executive functions. Converging evidence suggests that depression-related executive dysfunction is greater at older ages, however, this has not been previously confirmed by meta-analysis. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis, using three-level models, on peer-reviewed studies that examined depression-related differences in cognitive control in healthy community-dwelling individuals of any age. We focused on studies of cognitive control as defined by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework, which centers on goal-directed behavior, such as goal selection (updating, representations, maintenance), response selection (inhibition or suppression), and performance monitoring. In 16,806 participants aged 7 to 97 across 76 studies, both clinical depression and subthreshold depressive symptoms were associated with cognitive control deficits (Hedges’ g = -0.31). This relationship was stronger in study samples with an older mean age. Within studies with a mean age of 39 years or higher, which represents the median age in our analyses, the relationship was stronger in clinical compared to subthreshold depression and in individuals taking antidepressant medication. These findings highlight the importance of clinicians screening for cognitive control dysfunction in patients with depression, particularly in later stages of adulthood.

Background We investigated the relationship between mindfulness and compassion in a broader way than is typically done by (a) using a recent, comprehensive conceptualization of mindfulness as a manifold of self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence, and (b) by casting a wide net of compassion measures [i.e., the Compassionate Love for Humanity Scale (Sprecher and Fehr in J Soc Pers Relatsh 22(5):629–651, 2005); Compassion Scale (Martins et al. in J Health Care Poor Underserved 24:1235–1246, 2013); Compassion Scale (Pommier in Assessment 27:21–39, 2020); Relational Compassion Scale (Hacker in The relational compassion scale: Development and validation of a new self-rated scale for the assessment of self-other compassion, University of Glasgow, 2008); and the SOCS-O scale (Gu et al. in Clin Psychol Rev 37:1–12, 2020)]. Additionally, we examined the interplay between mindfulness, compassion, and ethical sensitivities by assessing the influence of the moral foundations (individualizing and binding) on compassion, and the influence of mindfulness, the moral foundations, and compassion on awareness of privilege. Methods We surveyed 407 undergraduate students. Factor analysis was used to examine the dimensionality of the compassion measures; path analysis to examine the relationships between all variables. Results Factor analysis revealed distinct affective (empathy, indifference), cognitive (common humanity, recognizing suffering), and motivational (willingness to act) aspects of compassion. Mindfulness, under its aspects of reflective awareness, self-compassion, and self-transcendence, was associated with compassion, with reflective awareness predicting multiple aspects of compassion over and beyond the normal mechanisms of the mindfulness manifold and the moral foundations. Individualizing was associated with all aspects of compassion; binding was only connected to recognizing suffering and a willingness to act. Awareness of privilege was positively connected to mindfulness through individualizing and the recognition of common humanity; it was also directly negatively related to the moral foundation of binding. Conclusions Mindfulness and compassion have synergistic and distinct positive effects on ethical sensitivities. Given that both compassion and ethical sensitivities have roots in mindfulness, mindfulness interventions might be one possible venue to enhance these positive aspects of individuals’ psychology.

Objectives The objective was to examine whether mindfulness interventions and trait mindfulness are associated with academic performance in students (first grade–college). Method Two three-level meta-analyses were conducted: (a) a meta-analysis comparing the effects of mindfulness interventions with those of control treatments (74 effect sizes from 29 studies); and (b) a meta-analysis comparing correlations between trait mindfulness and academic performance (84 effect sizes from 24 studies). Results Average effect sizes were significant (Hedges’ g  = 0.31 for intervention studies, r between trait mindfulness and academic performance = 0.09). In-person classes yielded larger effect sizes, and so did interventions set up as separate classes rather than in-class sessions. Longer interventions yielded larger effects, but this effect only pertained to informal, at-home work; interventions with longer sessions resulted in stronger effects. The correlation between mindfulness and academic performance was largest for elementary-school children and not significant for college students. Conclusions Mindfulness interventions have a reliable effect on student’s academic performance, and higher levels of trait mindfulness are associated with higher academic performance. Little is, however, known about the mechanisms for these effects. Preregistration This study is not pre-registered.

This study aimed at investigating the connection between virtue, compassion for self and others, and flourishing. 11,395 individuals provided data on the virtues of Caring, Inquisitiveness, and Self-Control, compassion for self (i.e., Self-Compassion and self-Criticism) and for others (i.e., Empathy, Common Humanity, Recognizing Suffering, and Willingness to Act), and flourishing. Regression analysis showed that: (a) Caring and Inquisitiveness were associated with an individual's sense of compassion, both for self and others; and that (b) the virtues and this kind attitude towards self and others were associated with an individual’s level of flourishing, explaining 50% of the between-person variance. Women scored higher than men on all variables except Self-Control. Self-Compassion increased with age; Empathy, Common Humanity, and Recognizing Suffering showed inverted-U trends with peaks around age 40–50; Willingness to Act and Self-Criticism showed downward trends. The results suggest that being caring, open, and kind may be major determinants of fulfillment.

Background Substance misuse among college students is a growing area of concern. Approximately 2 in 5 college students suffer from binge drinking disorder, the consequences of which include sexual misconduct, low grade point average (GPA), injury, and even death. Compulsivity is thought to play a key role in the initiation and maintenance of substance use disorder. We aim to clarify the role of compulsivity by evaluating several key components of this construct including rumination and “letting go.” Methods 443 undergraduate students participated in an online survey which included measures for substance misuse as well as general measures for compulsivity and a new, adapted measure for substance-dependent compulsivity. Results Our findings support our hypothesis that substance-dependent compulsivity, as defined as the drive to consume drugs and/or alcohol specifically, can be used as a behavioral marker to predict substance misuse. Conclusions Substance-dependent compulsivity plays a significant role in an unhealthy relationship with substances, including alcohol, above and beyond predisposition for obsessive–compulsive spectrum behavior. Given the age of our study population, it seems then likely that compulsive use of mind-altering substances emerges early in the pathogenesis of substance use disorder.

This correlational study of two independent samples (260 college students and 173 Mechanical Turk workers aged 21–74) examined whether and how mindfulness (broadly construed as a manifold of self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence), influences wisdom about the self (Adult Self-Transcendence Inventory and Self-Assessed Wisdom Scale) and wisdom about the (social) world (Three-Dimensional Wisdom Scale), and how mindfulness and wisdom impact ethical sensitivities (the five moral foundations). Mindfulness predicted wisdom about the self, and wisdom about the self was linked to an emphasis on the individualizing moral foundations of care/harm avoidance and fairness and, to a lesser degree, on the binding moral foundations of loyalty, authority, and purity. Wisdom about the (social) world was not associated with either mindfulness or the moral foundations. Age was a significant positive predictor for wisdom about the self once the self-awareness component of mindfulness was taken into account.