The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Thriving Programs on High School Students’ Perceived Stress, Mindfulness, Thriving and Self-Efficacy Levels

Abstract

Introduction: Adolescence is a period of rapid change marked by increased stress levels. Individuals with high self-efficacy better alleviate the effects of the stress of this period by exerting conscious control over their own thoughts, behaviours and feelings – a trait strongly associated with mindfulness. In this regard, the concept of mindfulness-based self-efficacy has been a much-researched area in recent students. Mindfulness practices ensure individuals with vitality and energy since they learn to become more open and engaged. In this respect, mindfulness is associated with thriving. This experimental research investigates the effects of the Mindfulness-Based Thriving Program (MTP) on high school students’ perceived stress, mindfulness, thriving and self-efficacy levels.

Methods: The study was conducted with 17 randomly assigned, female 11th grade students (X̄=16.62 for experimental group, X̄=16.77 for control group), who acquired educational support in Uskudar Municipality Youth Academy in the 2019-2020 academic year. The inclusion criteria included scoring highly on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and scoring lowly on the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), Thriving Scale (TS) and Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) in a pre-test assessment. The experimental group (n=8) received a six-session MTP intervention developed by the researcher, while the control group (n=9) received no intervention. To determine the immediate and long-term effects of the MTP, all participants completed post-tests (PSS, MAAS, TS, GSES) two months after the program.

Results: The 6-week MTP applied to adolescents was significantly effective in decreasing perceived stress and increasing mindfulness, thriving and self-efficacy levels.

Discussion: All findings were supported by the relevant literature and recommendations on their possible application have been given.

Limitations: Scores obtained from the scales, the narrow range of the sample (only 11th grade female students), the lack of a placebo group to support reliability and the lack of a comparable program for the current one all indicated the limitations of the study.

Conclusions: The 6-week MTP applied to adolescents showed the effectiveness in decreasing perceived stress and increasing mindfulness, thriving and self-efficacy levels. In this regard, thriving and mindfulness together have an important role in the development of self-efficacy and in decreasing perceived stress during adolescence. Thus, all these conclusions highlight the potential contribution of eclectic mindfulness practices for adolescence.