The effects of short video app-guided loving-kindness meditation on college students' mindfulness, self-compassion, positive psychological capital, and suicide ideation.
Chao Liu, Hao Chen, Ayuan Zhang, XiaoGang Gong, Kan Wu, Chia-Yih Liu, Wen-Ko Chiou
Psicologia, reflexao e critica : revista semestral do Departamento de Psicologia da UFRGS October 30, 2023 DOI: 10.1186/s41155-023-00276-w (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractAn eight-week loving-kindness meditation guided by a short video app improved self-compassion and positive psychological capital and reduced suicide ideation among Chinese college students compared with a control group that received no intervention. Mindfulness did not change significantly. The app group of 37 participants showed higher self-compassion and positive psychological capital and lower suicide ideation after the intervention; the 37 control participants showed no differences on any measure. The findings suggest that combining positive psychology with digital media may help reduce suicide ideation in college students.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 74 |
| Population | College students from a university in China |
| Intervention | Short video app guided loving-kindness meditation |
| Duration | 8-week intervention |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Loving-kindness meditation Positive psychological capital Self-compassion Short video app |
| Key finding | Short video app guided loving-kindness meditation significantly increased self-compassion and positive psychological capital and reduced suicide ideation in college students. |
Abstract
The study investigated the effects of a short video app guided loving-kindness meditation (LKM) on college students' mindfulness, self-compassion, positive psychological capital, and suicide ideation. The purpose of the study is to investigate the intervention effect of LKM training on suicidal ideation among college students with the help of the short video application and to provide an empirical basis for the exploration of early suicide intervention strategies for college students. We recruited 80 college students from a university in China. The final 74 eligible participants were divided into two groups: app use group (n = 37) and the control group (n = 37). The app group accepted an 8-week app use interference, while the control group underwent no interference. We measured four major variable factors (mindfulness, self-compassion, positive psychological capital, and suicide ideation) before and after the app use intervention. In the app group, self-compassion and positive psychological capital were significantly higher, and suicide ideation was significantly lower than the control group. In the control group, there were no noticeable differences in any of the four variables between the pre-test and post-test. Our findings demonstrate that the short video app guided LKM may help to improve self-compassion, and positive psychological capital, and reduce suicide ideation. The finding of the short video app-guided LKM's effect extends our understanding of the integrative effects of positive psychology and digital media on the reduction of suicide ideation.