Mindfulness Meditation Improves Mental Health in Flood Survivors and Disaster Volunteers: A Randomized Wait-List Controlled Trial
Lena Müller, Olga Rapoport, Martina Rahe
Mindfulness November 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-024-02467-7 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 146 |
| Population | People affected by the July 2021 flood disaster in Germany (via house, friends, or workplace) and/or who volunteered after the disaster |
| Duration | 6-week intervention; control group received the same intervention 6 weeks later |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | The 6-week digital mindfulness intervention produced significant time-by-intervention interaction effects on all measured outcomes, indicating improved self-compassion, life satisfaction, and positive affect, and reduced negative affect, perceived stress, and pathological symptoms. No deterioration occurred in the intervention group between the post-intervention and later follow-up assessments. |
Abstract
Abstract Objectives Being affected by a natural disaster or helping victims can impact mental health. This study aimed to examine whether a digital mindfulness intervention positively affects self-compassion, life satisfaction, and positive affect, and alleviates negative affect, perceived stress, and pathological symptoms in victims and volunteers of the flood disaster in Germany in July 2021.
Method: Participants were 146 people affected by the flood (via house, n = 88; friends, n = 100; workplace, n = 54) and/or volunteered after the disaster (n = 86). After the randomized assignment, 74 received a 6-week application-based mindfulness intervention, and 72 were allocated to the wait-control condition. The control group received the same intervention 6 weeks later. Before (T1) and after (T2) the intervention of the first group and after the intervention of the control group (T3), participants filled out questionnaires regarding different aspects of mental health.
Results: We found significant interaction effects of time and intervention for all variables (self-compassion, life satisfaction, positive and negative affect, perceived stress, and pathological symptoms), indicating effectiveness of the digital mindfulness intervention. No deterioration were found between T2 and T3 in the intervention group for any of the variables.
Conclusions: The 6-week digital mindfulness program positively affected the mental health of both disaster victims and volunteers. Therefore, a digital mindfulness intervention could be a good alternative in situations where group programs or face-to-face meetings are infeasible.