Does a Brief Mindfulness Training Enhance Heartfulness in Students? Results of a Pilot Study

,Myriam Rudaz,Thomas Ledermann,Michael E Levin,Michael P Twohig

doi:10.21926/obm.icm.1904059

Abstract

(1) Background: There is robust evidence that mindfulness trainings enhance mindfulness as operationalized in Western psychology, but evidence about heartfulness is sparse. This study seeks to test whether a brief mindfulness training enhances heart qualities, including self-compassion, gratitude, and the generation of feelings of happiness. (2) Methods: Eighteen students enrolled in a mindfulness training that was offered as part of an interdisciplinary class. The training consisted of five training sessions and four booster sessions of 45 minutes each over the course of nine weeks. Mindfulness was measured with the total score of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire-Short Form (FFMQ-SF) and self-compassion was measured with the Self-Compassion Scale Short Form (SCS-SF). In addition, two items were drawn from the Caring for Bliss Scale (CBS) measuring gratitude and the generation of feelings of happiness in the present moment. Assessments were conducted before the training (pre), after the training (post), and four weeks after the training (follow-up). (3) Results: Results showed that mindfulness, self-compassion, and generating feelings of happiness increased from pre to post, whereas self-critical attitudes decreased and that these changes were maintained at follow-up. Gratitude increased from pre to post and then decreased from post to follow-up. (4) Conclusions: A brief mindfulness training seems to be beneficial for students to improve mindfulness and aspects of heartfulness, but further research is needed to investigate the effectiveness of the training relative to a cohort or active control group.

Highlights

Stress and mental health issues have become a growing problem in college students [1, 2], but evidence exists that mindfulness-based trainings, such as the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training [3], are effective in reducing stress-related symptoms
The present study investigated whether a brief mindfulness training of 6 hours and 45 minutes can improve mindfulness and heart qualities directly after the training and four weeks later in college students
Consistent with our expectation, mindfulness, self-compassion, gratitude, and the generation of feelings of happiness increased from pre to post

Summary

Introduction

Stress and mental health issues have become a growing problem in college students [1, 2], but evidence exists that mindfulness-based trainings, such as the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training [3], are effective in reducing stress-related symptoms. A meta-analysis in healthy adults showed that MBSR reduced perceived stress, psychological distress, and severity of global psychological symptoms compared to waitlist controls [5]. A more recent meta-analysis of 18 studies revealed that in healthy adults MBSR reduced perceived stress, distress, anxiety, depression, burnout, and low quality of life compared to controls [6]. Glancy, and Pitts [1] meta-analyzed 24 studies with students of a wide range of disciplines (e.g., nursing, economics, technology) and found that cognitive, behavioral, and mindfulness interventions were able to reduce anxiety, depression, and cortisol relative to controls. In a recent meta-analysis with 25 studies with college students of diverse disciplines, Bamber and Morpeth [8] found that mindfulness meditation reduced students’ anxiety relative to no-treatment controls

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