"EFFECT OF MINDFULNESS MEDITATION AND COPING STRATEGIES ON AFFECT AND DEPRESSION SYMPTOMATOLOGY AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS DURING NATIONAL LOCKDOWN - A PROSPECTIVE, NON-RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIAL "

Abstract

"This prospective, non-randomised controlled trial aimed to investigate the effects of brief app-based sessions of mindfulness meditation (MM) and utilisation of either problem-focused (PFC) or emotion-focused coping (EFC) styles on positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA) and depression symptomatology during nationwide lockdown due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study enrolled 19 medical students to undergo a 10-minute MM intervention. These same students were also divided into either PFC or EFC groups. Affect was measured using the positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS), depression symptomatology was measured using the centre for epidemiological studies-depression (CES-D) scale and the brief COPE survey was used to categorise individuals as either PFC or EFC. Analysis showed no significant between-subject interaction for MM on PA, NA or CES-D score. Analysis of coping styles showed no significant between-subject interactions in relation to PA or NA, though CES-D scores approached significance (p=0.057) and PFC scored significantly lower than EFC at baseline (p=0.02). Significant within-subject effect of time found for PA and NA across both analyses (p<0.05). 61.1% of cohort scored above CES-D cut-off for being considered at risk of depression. These results identify a need for further work into more intensive MM interventions with larger sample sizes as well as study into stressors associated with lockdown to more fully establish whether PFC strategies are the most beneficial. In addition, a clearly high level of psychological distress has been implicated in this study population, which may have implications for student pastoral care during this period."