Effectiveness of a Brief Online Mindfulness-Based Intervention for University Students.
Sabrina Fagioli, Susanna Pallini, Stefano Mastandrea, Barbara Barcaccia
Mindfulness 2023 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-023-02128-1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Quasi-experimental Preregistered Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 486 |
| Population | University students in an online course |
| Interventions | breathing meditation sharing of experiences mini-lectures on mindfulness daily practice |
| Duration | 28 consecutive days |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Academic self-efficacy Online mindfulness intervention Online university class Sense of community |
| Key findings | A brief online mindfulness-based intervention significantly increased academic self-efficacy, self-regulation of attention, and sense of community among online university students. |
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a dramatic increase in Web-based education, lacking face-to-face student-teacher and student-student interaction, and consequently impairing students' sense of belonging to a community, interoceptive awareness, and academic self-efficacy. This study examined how a brief mindfulness-based intervention in an online university course can be effective in enhancing attention resources, developing a stronger sense of academic self-efficacy, and improving the sense of belonging to a community, which represent critical factors affecting students' participation in online and blended courses. Four-hundred and eighty-six participants (Mage 22.88) completed a battery of measures at pre- and post-treatment. One class (experimental group) participated in a brief online mindfulness-based intervention (42%), whereas the other one (control group) did not take part in the intervention (58%). The intervention included breathing meditation at the beginning of class, sharing of experiences, mini-lectures on mindfulness, and daily practice, and lasted for 28 consecutive days. Participants in the experimental group when compared to controls showed a significant increase in the feeling of influencing the course activities (F = 9.628; p < 0.005), in the self-regulation of attention (F = 19.133; p < 0.001), in academic self-efficacy (F = 9.220; p < 0.005), and, particularly, in their self-efficacy in regulating learning (F = 12.942; p < 0.001). The students' adherence to the assigned practice could partially explain the effectiveness of the intervention. This study offers useful clues about the effectiveness of mindfulness interventions in the classroom in enhancing sense of belonging to a community, attention grounded in bodily sensations, and academic self-efficacy. This study is not preregistered.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cited by 10
- Mindfulness to improve the mental health of university students. A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Public Health 2023
- Effect of a mindfulness program on stress, anxiety, depression, sleep quality, social support, and life satisfaction: a quasi-experimental study in college students. Frontiers in Psychology 2025
- Effectiveness and experiences of integrating Mindfulness into Peer-assisted Learning (PAL) in clinical education for nursing students: A mixed method study. Nurse Education Today 2024
- Temperament and Character Moderate the Effects of Mindfulness Training on Psychological and Professional Well-Being of School Teachers Mindfulness April 23, 2025
- The Effects of Mindfulness Practice on Anxiety and Test Anxiety in a College Student Population Utilizing a RCT and WLC. Psychological Reports July 7, 2025
and 5 more in the library
Cites 13
- Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2004
- Mindfulness Training Improves Working Memory Capacity and GRE Performance While Reducing Mind Wandering Psychological Science March 28, 2013
- Interoception, contemplative practice, and health Frontiers in Psychology June 9, 2015
- Mindfulness meditation training alters cortical representations of interoceptive attention Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience June 11, 2012
- A mindfulness-based intervention to increase resilience to stress in university students (the Mindful Student Study): a pragmatic randomised controlled trial The Lancet Public Health December 18, 2017
and 8 more in the library