Abstract
The federal government of Malaysia recently implemented a nationwide Movement Control Order (MCO) to control the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the MCO has had a negative impact on people’s mental well-being. Interventions that can improve people’s mental health when their movement is restricted are therefore urgently needed. The present study investigated the impact of an ultra-brief online mindfulness-based intervention on mental health using a two-arm randomized controlled trial design. A total of 161 participants self-reported their distress, anxiety, psychological insecurity, and well-being at baseline and post-treatment, while 61 of them answered the same set of measures and the fear of COVID-19 scale in a follow-up study two weeks later. A multivariate analysis of covariance found the intervention reduced psychological insecurity levels measured during post-treatment. Moreover, gender, the experience of practicing mindfulness, and participants’ experiences of undergoing quarantine were found to play a role in post-treatment measures. No significant difference was found between the baseline and follow-up treatment. However, hierarchical multiple regression found that psychological insecurity measured at baseline positively predicted the level of fear after controlling for demographic variables. Overall, the findings suggest that an online mindfulness intervention is a potentially useful tool for alleviating people’s mental health difficulties
Highlights
The infectious coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by a novel coronavirus was first identified amid an outbreak of respiratory illness in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China
There was a significant relationship between all the variables except the fear of COVID-19 measured during follow-up treatment
Wellbeing was negatively associated with distress, anxiety, and psychological insecurity, while psychological insecurity was positively associated with distress, anxiety, and the fear of COVID-19
Summary
The infectious coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by a novel coronavirus was first identified amid an outbreak of respiratory illness in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. The MCO plays an important role in containing the spread of COVID-19, prolonged time in isolation on top of the uncertainty of this global pandemic had inevitably had a negative impact on people’s mental wellbeing. A recent Malaysian study (Azuddin, 2020) discovered that almost half of their respondents faced some forms of negative emotional experience, with 22% having severe to extremely severe anxiety, 20% developing depression, and 15% experiencing alarming levels of stress during this MCO period. These statistics merely represent Malaysians’ mental health states at the beginning of the MCO. Numbers may escalate as the MCO prolongs and even after the MCO has been lifted
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
