Differential Effect of Level of Self-Regulation and Mindfulness Training on Coping Strategies Used by University Students.

Jesús De La Fuente,Adolfo J Cangas,Israel Mañas,Clemente Franco,Encarnación Soriano

doi:10.3390/ijerph15102230

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to verify, in a group of psychology students, whether mindfulness training in conjunction with the individual’s level of self-regulation behavior would produce a change in the use of coping strategies. A total of 38 students participated in this study, with one experimental group and one control group, in a randomized controlled trial. Observation of the experimental group revealed a significant decrease in specific emotion-focused, negative coping strategies (preparing for the worst, resigned acceptance, emotional venting, and isolation), and a significant increase in specific problem-focused, positive coping (positive reappraisal and firmness, self-talk, help for action), in combination with students’ existing low-medium-high level of self-regulation. The importance and usefulness of mindfulness techniques in Higher Education is discussed, in conjunction with differences in university students’ level of self-regulation behavior.

Highlights

Within the sphere of psychology research that examines stress in academic environments, it is especially important to analyze differences in the use of motivational-affective strategies
The results showed that the university students with a higher level of resilience reported significantly higher levels of mindfulness, greater use of adaptive coping strategies, reduced maladaptive coping, and lower levels of psychological stress, when compared to students with low resilience levels
Personalized treatment—suited to each person—should begin to find its way into these types of interventions, not unlike what is already common in other fields of healthcare intervention. These results show a differential panorama of how students who are low-medium-high in self-regulation benefit from mindfulness

Summary

Introduction

Within the sphere of psychology research that examines stress in academic environments, it is especially important to analyze differences in the use of motivational-affective strategies. Interest has expanded beyond understanding meta-cognitive strategies used while learning to knowing how motivational-affective processes are regulated and how the latter affect and interact with the former [1]. One example of this is the important role that is ascribed to students’ self-regulated behavior and to the regulatory characteristics of the context. Previous research has described Self-Regulation as multidimensional, referring to one’s level of effort. Public Health 2018, 15, 2230; doi:10.3390/ijerph15102230 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion