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BRIEF REPORT

An evaluation of potential psychological barriers to meditation practice among university students

Jason E. Warnick1*
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1 Department of Behavioral Sciences, College of Arts and Humanities, Arkansas Tech University, Russellville, Arkansas, United States of America
JCBP, 026040006 https://doi.org/10.36922/JCBP026040006
Received: 25 January 2026 | Revised: 26 February 2026 | Accepted: 2 March 2026 | Published online: 31 March 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Meditation is widely promoted for psychological and physical health, yet research on barriers to its practice has focused primarily on pragmatic issues. This pilot study investigates psychological barriers, specifically meta-cognitive traits, to meditation practice among university students. Participants (N = 90; 80% female; 82.2% white; 70% upper-level students) completed questionnaires assessing barriers to meditation, thought control strategies, inner speech, and thought control ability. Independent samples t-tests and Pearson correlations were used for analysis. Non-meditators reported significantly higher perceived low benefit, inadequate knowledge, and pragmatic barriers compared to meditators. Notably, a majority of participants reported difficulty in stopping unwanted thoughts, which correlated with punitive thought control strategies, critical inner speech, and lower thought control ability. These findings suggest that meta-cognitive barriers may impede the adoption of meditation by many individuals. Hence, meditation programs should consider screening for thought control difficulties and provide targeted support. These results have implications for the implementation of meditation in educational and clinical settings and complement emerging research on potential adverse effects.

Keywords
Meditation
Mindfulness
Positive psychology
Health psychology
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The author declares no conflict of interest.
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Journal of Clinical and Basic Psychosomatics, Electronic ISSN: 2972-4414 Print ISSN: 3060-8562, Published by AccScience Publishing
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