The Effect of Mindfulness on Academic Stress Management Among Students Prior to Examinations
Itryah Itryah, Adek Tri Hartati
International Journal of Social Science and Human Research January 31, 2026 DOI: 10.47191/ijsshr/v9-i1-107 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Quasi-experimental design with non-randomized pretest–posttest control group Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 34 |
| Population | Vocational high school tenth-grade students |
| Interventions | loving-kindness meditation mindful eating |
| Duration | Six sessions |
| Topics | Anxiety Meditation |
| Keywords | Stress linguistics Stress management Stress reduction Intervention counseling Depression economics Internal consistency Clinical psychology Mental health Control management Psychotherapist Consistency knowledge bases |
| Key findings | Mindfulness training significantly reduced academic stress in the experimental group compared to the control group. |
Abstract
This study examined the effect of a mindfulness-based intervention on vocational high school students’ academic stress prior to examinations. A quantitative quasi-experimental design with a non-randomized pretest–posttest control group was employed. Thirty-four tenth-grade students were assigned to an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group participated in six mindfulness sessions incorporating box breathing, loving-kindness meditation, mindful eating, and mindful walking, while the control group received no specific treatment. Academic stress was measured using the stress subscale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-42), which demonstrated strong content validity based on Aiken’s V coefficients and excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.980). Paired-samples t-test results indicated a significant reduction in academic stress in the experimental group (p < .05), whereas no significant change was observed in the control group. These findings suggest that mindfulness training is an effective preventive approach for enhancing students’ capacity to regulate academic stress in examination contexts. The study highlights the potential integration of mindfulness practices into school-based counseling services to promote adolescents’ psychological well-being
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Relation to Quality of Life, Mood, Symptoms of Stress, and Immune Parameters in Breast and Prostate Cancer Outpatients Early-stage breast and prostate cancer patients | 2003 | Pre-post intervention study | n = 59 |
| Exploring self‐compassion and empathy in the context of mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) Community sample | 2010 | Pre-post intervention study | |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Lowers Psychological Distress In Medical Students Second-year medical students | 2003 | Prospective nonrandomized cohort-controlled study | n = 302 |
| Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Retreat participants and matched controls | 2011 | Controlled trial with wait-list control group | n = 60 |
| The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training for Children with ADHD and Mindful Parenting for their Parents Children aged 8-12 with ADHD and their parents | 2011 | Within-group waitlist controlled trial | n = 22 |