Academic stress and evaluation of a mindfulness training intervention program

Abstract

Many studies have shown that students of different disciplines experience a high level of stress in university environments. It seems that mindfulness education can increase the ability of students to cope with stressful factors in university environments. The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of a mindfulness training intervention program for college students. 38 students participated in the present study (58% female and 42% male, age: mean = 24.31, SD = 1.05). The students randomly were assigned to an experimental group (n = 20) and a control group (n = 18). The experimental group received an 8-week mindfulness training intervention program, but no the control group. At an 8-week follow-up, participants in the experimental group reported an improvement in response to stressors and perceived reduction of stress relative to participants in the control group. However, we observed no differences in stressors, response to stressors and perceived reduction of stress between the experimental and control groups. The findings indicate that a mindfulness training intervention delivered in the university setting may be an effective way to increase response to stressors and reduce perceived stress among college students.