Topic: Anxiety, Life Stress, Emotional Competency, Sleep, Depression
Target Population: Adolescents, Adults, Middle Childhood
Sector: Community-Based
This program is for youth who are 3 to 18 years old and adults.
Calm, a mindfulness-meditation mobile app, is designed to help improve sleep quality and focus, decrease stress and anxiety, and foster self-improvement in participants.
Several internal randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the Calm app have been conducted among different adult populations. In most studies, participants were asked to engage with the app for 10 minutes per day during the intervention period. Results from an RCT among college students who had elevated stress levels indicated significant differences between the intervention and control groups in perceived stress, mindfulness, and self-compassion at posttest. These effects persisted at a 1-month follow-up, except for the nonreacting scale of mindfulness. There was no effect on health behaviors (i.e., binge drinking, physical activity, and fruit and vegetable consumption). Results of an RCT among adults with sleep disturbance indicated improvements in the intervention group in daytime fatigue, daytime sleepiness, cognitive and somatic pre-sleep arousal, depression, and anxiety symptoms after 8 weeks of app use compared to a control group. Results from an RCT, among employees of a large, multisite employer in the United States, indicated significant improvements in the intervention group for mental health, sleep, resilience, and productivity and reductions in medical visits and costs due to work impairment after 8 weeks of app use relative to the wait-list control group. Results of an RCT among a sample of obstetric and gynecology patients indicated reductions in perceived stress and self-reported depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance after 30 days of app use compared to a control group who received standard care. Results of an RCT among middle-aged adults who had elevated stress levels indicated no significant differences between groups on perceived stress, psychological outcomes, or stress-related health behaviors after 4 weeks of app use.
Calm engages participants in mindfulness meditation sessions in which participants practice moment-to-moment awareness and focus on the present without judgmental thoughts. Cognitive behavioral therapy techniques are incorporated into some sessions. Participants may choose the “Daily Calm” set of guided meditations or choose from other options for specific goals such as happiness or self-esteem. The Calm app includes the following:
The Calm Business app* is available for employers and their employees.
*A separate fact sheet is available for this product.
The Calm app was launched in 2012. Since that time, the app has had more than 100 million downloads and has won awards in 2017 and 2018. The app is available in seven languages: English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Training is not required or available for implementation of this app as this app is self-administered.
Considerations for using this app include acquiring participant buy-in, ensuing participants have a mobile device that can run the Calm app and internet access, finding time during the day to engage in the app, and realizing that results are dependent upon how much time a person chooses to engage with the app.
The Clearinghouse can help address these considerations. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email clearinghouse@psu.edu
If you are interested in implementing the Calm app, the Clearinghouse is interested in helping you! Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email clearinghouse@psu.edu
Modules vary in length. The frequency, dose, and timing of engagement with the app and its content and use of various features are self-selected by each user and are self-paced.
Users will have access to different content depending on whether they have the basic versus the premium subscription. Please use details in the Contact section to learn more.
To move the Calm app to the Promising category on the Clearinghouse Continuum of Evidence, at least one evaluation should be performed lasting at least one year from the beginning of the program or at least six months from program completion.
The Clearinghouse can help you develop an evaluation plan to ensure the program components are meeting your goals. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email clearinghouse@psu.edu
Contact the Clearinghouse with any questions regarding this program. Phone: 1-877-382-9185 Email: clearinghouse@psu.edu
You may also contact the Calm Help Center by visiting https://support.calm.com/hc/en-us/requests/new
Huberty, J. L., Espel-Huynh, H. M., Neher, T. L., & Puzia, M. E. (2022). Testing the pragmatic effectiveness of a consumer-based mindfulness mobile app in the workplace: Randomized controlled trial. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 10(9), e38903-e38903. https://doi.org/10.2196/38903
Huberty, J., Green, J., Glissmann, C., Larkey, L., Puzia, M., & Lee, C. (2019). Efficacy of the mindfulness meditation mobile app “calm” to reduce stress among college students: Randomized controlled trial. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 7(6), e14273-e14273. https://doi.org/10.2196/14273
Huberty, J. L., Green, J., Puzia, M. E., Larkey, L., Laird, B., Vranceanu, A., … Irwin, M. R. (2021). Testing a mindfulness meditation mobile app for the treatment of sleep-related symptoms in adults with sleep disturbance: A randomized controlled trial. PloS One, 16(1), e0244717-e0244717. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244717
Huberty, J., Puzia, M. E., Green, J., Vlisides-Henry, R. D., Larkey, L., Irwin, M. R., & Vranceanu, A. (2021). A mindfulness meditation mobile app improves depression and anxiety in adults with sleep disturbance: Analysis from a randomized controlled trial. General Hospital Psychiatry, 73, 30-37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2021.09.004
Laird, B., Puzia, M., Larkey, L., Ehlers, D., & Huberty, J. (2022). A mobile app for stress management in middle-aged men and women (calm): Feasibility randomized controlled trial. JMIR Formative Research, 6(5), e30294-e30294. https://doi.org/10.2196/30294
Smith, R. B., Mahnert, N. D., Foote, J., Saunders, K. T., Mourad, J., & Huberty, J. (2021). Mindfulness effects in obstetric and gynecology patients during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: A randomized controlled trial. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 137(6), 1032-1040. https://doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0000000000004316
Clarke, J., & Draper, S. (2020). Intermittent mindfulness practice can be beneficial, and daily practice can be harmful. An in depth, mixed methods study of the “Calm” app's (mostly positive) effects. Internet Interventions : The Application of Information Technology in Mental and Behavioural Health, 19, 100293-100293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2019.100293
Green, J., Huberty, J., Puzia, M., & Stecher, C. (2021). The effect of meditation and physical activity on the mental health impact of covid-19-related stress and attention to news among mobile app users in the United States: Cross-sectional survey. JMIR Mental Health, 8(4), e28479-e28479. https://doi.org/10.2196/28479
Huberty, J., Puzia, M. E., Larkey, L., Vranceanu, A., & Irwin, M. R. (2021). Can a meditation app help my sleep? A cross-sectional survey of calm users. PloS One, 16(10), e0257518-e0257518. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257518
Lau, N., O'Daffer, A., Colt, S., Yi-Frazier, J. P., Palermo, T. M., McCauley, E., & Rosenberg, A. R. (2020). Android and iphone mobile apps for psychosocial wellness and stress management: Systematic search in app stores and literature review. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 8(5), e17798-e17798. https://doi.org/10.2196/17798
O'Daffer, A., Colt, S. F., Wasil, A. R., & Lau, N. (2022). Efficacy and conflicts of interest in randomized controlled trials evaluating headspace and calm apps: Systematic review. JMIR Mental Health, 9(9), e40924-e40924. https://doi.org/10.2196/40924
Stecher, C., Sullivan, M., & Huberty, J. (2021). Using personalized anchors to establish routine meditation practice with a mobile app: Randomized controlled trial. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 9(12), e32794-e32794. https://doi.org/10.2196/32794
Wasil, A. R., Palermo, E. H., Lorenzo-Luaces, L., & DeRubeis, R. J. (2022). Is there an app for that? A review of popular apps for depression, anxiety, and well-being. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 29(4), 883-901. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2021.07.001
