What Predicts App Engagement? The Association Between Motivation Measures and Meditation App Use Among New Subscribers (Preprint)

Abstract

Mindfulness meditation apps are associated with significant health benefits, yet many new app subscribers have low engagement and are unlikely to attain these benefits.

The purpose of this study was to determine which individual characteristics predict app usage during the first eight weeks after newly subscribing to a meditation app.

New subscribers to the Calm app completed a baseline survey and objective app usage data were collected over their first eight weeks. The baseline survey measured demographics, personality traits, intrinsic motivation for meditation, and symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression. Regression models were used to assess the relationship between these self-reported characteristics and five app engagement outcomes: 1) days with any app session, 2) average daily minutes including all app session types, 3) an indicator for completing any meditation session, 4) days with any meditation sessions, and 5) average daily minutes of meditation.

We enrolled 304 participants who were primarily women (79%), White (82%), and had a mental health diagnosis (77%). Intrinsic motivation for meditation was the strongest predictor of app use over the first eight weeks and was associated with 3.63 greater odds of completing any meditation session (95% CI 2.10,6.27; P < 0.01), more days with meditation sessions (1.75 IRR, 95% CI 1.46,2.11; P < 0.01), and 0.32 more average daily meditation minutes (95% CI 0.14,0.49; P < 0.01). Among the individual components of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory, “feeling pressure to meditate” was associated with fewer days of meditation (0.73 IRR, 95% CI 0.56,0.96; P =.004) and 0.47 fewer minutes of meditation (95% CI -0.74,-0.20; P <.001).

High intrinsic motivation for meditation was the strongest predictor of meditation app use among new subscribers’ first eight weeks, with a particularly strong negative relationship when motivation came from feeling pressure to use the app. These results suggest that pressure is a harmful source of motivation for meditation, and that future behavioral interventions should attempt to reduce sources of pressure to meditate in order to better maintain meditation performance.

This trial was not preregistered