Being Mindful at University: A Pilot Evaluation of the Feasibility of an Online Mindfulness-Based Mental Health Support Program for Students
Miroslav Světlák, Pavla Linhartová, Terézia Knejzlíková, Jakub Knejzlík, Barbora Kóša, Veronika Horníčková, Kristýna Jarolínová, Klaudia Lučanská, Alena Slezáčková, Rastislav Sumec
Frontiers in Psychology January 11, 2021 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.581086 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Pilot study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 692 |
| Population | University students |
| Intervention | Mindfulness-based program (eMBP) |
| Duration | 8-week program |
| Measures | Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire subscales |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 26 |
| Key points | The authors report that an 8-week online mindfulness-based program was feasible and effective for university students, with completers showing reduced perceived stress and negative affect, increased mindfulness and self-compassion, and slightly increased cognitive reappraisal. They also observed a decrease in the importance attributed to quality-of-life components, replicated in two consecutive runs. |
Abstract
University study can be a life period of heightened psychological distress for many students. The development of new preventive and intervention programs to support well-being in university students is a fundamental challenge for mental health professionals. We designed an 8-week online mindfulness-based program (eMBP) combining a face-to-face approach, text, audio, video components, and support psychotherapy principles with a unique intensive reminder system using the Facebook Messenger and Slack applications in two separate runs (N = 692). We assessed the program’s effect on mindful experiencing, perceived stress, emotion regulation strategies, self-compassion, negative affect, and quality of life. The results of the presented pilot study confirmed that eMBP is a feasible and effective tool in university students’ mental health support. The students who completed the eMBP reported a reduction of perceived stress with a large effect size (pη2 = 0.42) as well as a decrease of negative affect experience frequency and intensity (pη2 = 0.31), an increase of being mindful in their life (Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire subscales:pη2 = 0.21, 0.27, 0.25, 0.28, 0.28), and a higher rate of self-compassion (pη2 = 0.28) with a medium effect size. A small effect size was found in the frequency of using a cognitive reappraisal strategy (pη2 = 0.073). One new result is the observation of an eMBP effect (pη2 = 0.27) on the decrease in attributed importance to the quality-of-life components replicated in two consecutive runs of the program. The study affirms that mindfulness-based interventions can be effectively delivered in an eHealth form to university students.
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 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 6
- Mindfulness and Other Simple Neuroscience-Based Proposals to Promote the Learning Performance and Mental Health of Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic Brain Sciences April 27, 2021
- Acceptability, usage, and efficacy of mindfulness apps for college student mental health: A systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs. Journal of Affective Disorders December 15, 2024
- The association between mindfulness, resilience, and academic achievement of pharmacy students in Saudi Arabia Frontiers in Public Health October 22, 2024
- A Meta-Analysis Examining the Efficacy and Predictors of Change in Mindfulness- and Self-Compassion-Based Interventions (MBSCIs) in Reducing Psychological Distress Among University Students. European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education March 27, 2026
- Mindfulness-based stress reduction and mental health in department of emergency nurses: A narrative review. World Journal of Psychiatry September 19, 2025
and 1 more in the library
Cites 27
- Mechanisms of mindfulness Journal of Clinical Psychology December 29, 2005
- How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective Perspectives on Psychological Science October 14, 2011
- Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Assessment February 29, 2008
- Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation Perspectives on Psychological Science October 10, 2017
- Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012
and 22 more in the library