Impact of a University-Wide Interdisciplinary Mind-Body Skills Program on Student Mental and Emotional Well-Being.
Brenna K Novak, Anna Gebhardt, Harini Pallerla, Susan Blocksom McDonald, Aviad Haramati, Sian Cotton
Global Advances in Health and Medicine November 23, 2020 DOI: 10.1177/2164956120973983 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional pre-post survey with control group and 1-year follow-up Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 526 |
| Population | Multidisciplinary students from 7 colleges at a public university, 2017-2019 |
| Intervention | Mind-body skills program |
| Duration | 9-week program; 1-year follow-up |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Mental health Burnout Mind-body Student well-being |
| Key findings | Participation in a 9-week mind-body skills program was associated with significant improvements in stress, negative affect, depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, burnout, positive affect, resilience, mindfulness, and empathy (P < .05). At 1-year follow-up in a subset, only mindfulness remained significantly elevated; other well-being changes were not sustained. |
Abstract
Background: Positive effects of mind-body skills programs on participant well-being have been reported in health professions students. The success seen with medical students at this university led to great interest in expanding the mind-body skills program so students in other disciplines could benefit from the program.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of a 9-week mind-body skills program on the mental and emotional well-being of multidisciplinary students compared to controls. We also sought to determine if the program's effects were sustained at 1-year follow-up.
Methods: A cross-sectional pre-post survey was administered online via SurveyMonkey to participants of a 9-week mind-body skills program and a control group of students from 7 colleges at a public university from 2017-2019. Students were assessed on validated measures of stress, positive/negative affect, resilience, depression, anxiety, fatigue, sleep disturbance, mindfulness, empathy, and burnout. Scores were analyzed between-groups and within-groups using bivariate and multivariate analyses. A 1-year follow-up was completed on a subset of participants and controls.
Results: 279 participants and 247 controls completed the pre-survey and post-survey (79% response rate; 71% female, 68% white, mean age = 25 years). Participants showed significant decreases in stress, negative affect, depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, and burnout, while positive affect, resilience, mindfulness, and empathy increased significantly (P < .05). Only sleep disturbance showed a significant decrease in the control group. Follow-up in a subset of participants showed that only mindfulness remained elevated at 1-year (P < .05), whereas the significant changes in other well-being measures were not sustained.
Conclusion: Participation in a 9-week mind-body skills program led to significant improvement in indicators of well-being in multidisciplinary students. A pilot 1-year follow-up suggests that effects are only sustained for mindfulness, but not other parameters. Future programming should focus on implementing mind-body skills booster sessions to help sustain the well-being benefits.
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
Cites 6
- Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Assessment February 29, 2008
- Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being JAMA Internal Medicine January 6, 2014
- Effects of mindful-attention and compassion meditation training on amygdala response to emotional stimuli in an ordinary, non-meditative state Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012
- Six-year positive effects of a mindfulness-based intervention on mindfulness, coping and well-being in medical and psychology students; Results from a randomized controlled trial PLoS One April 24, 2018
- Online Training in Mind-Body Therapies: Different Doses, Long-term Outcomes. Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine April 13, 2017
and 1 more in the library