An Intervention Study on Mindfulness Meditation and Mindfulness, Stress, Flourishing, and Academic Achievement in a First-Year Experience Seminar
Elizabeth S. Bambacus
VCU Scholars Compass 2018 DOI: 10.25772/5w2m-9b57 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Repeated-measures quasi-experimental nonequivalent control groups design Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 373 |
| Population | First-year college students enrolled in Introduction to the University (UNIV 101) at a large public research university; 70% women (n = 261) and 30% men (n = 112) |
| Intervention | Brief mindfulness intervention |
| Measures | Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Flourishing Scale (FS), GPA, retention |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 3 |
| Key findings | The brief mindfulness intervention produced no significant group differences in mindfulness, stress, flourishing, GPA, or retention after controlling for class section and gender. Across all students, mindfulness and flourishing decreased and stress increased by the end of the semester. Pretest flourishing positively predicted Spring GPA, and posttest flourishing was the only variable that positively predicted retention. |
Abstract
This study investigated the two research questions, 1) what are the relationships among the pretest latent variables mindfulness, stress, and flourishing and the manifest variables GPA and retention in first-year college students in a first-year experience seminar and 2) will there be differences in mindfulness, stress, flourishing, GPA, and retention between groups of students in a first-year experience seminar who received a brief mindfulness intervention and those who did not? To answer these questions, the author analyzed secondary data collected from 373 first-year college students at a large public research university who took Introduction to the University (UNIV 101). The study was a repeated-measures quasi-experimental nonequivalent control groups design. Eighteen instructors across 35 class sections volunteered to provide the intervention in their class, 248 first-year students (66%) made up the mindfulness group, and 125 first-year students (35%) made up the comparison group. Women made up 70% (n = 261) of the sample and males made up 30% (n = 112). Pretests and posttests included demographics, the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Flourishing Scale (FS), and questions asking about prior mindfulness experience (pretest) and current and potential future practices (posttest). Chi-squared tests and t-tests evaluated variances between groups in demographics and outcome variables. Only gender varied significantly. Bivariate Pearson’s correlations of the latent variables showed 1) a significant positive relationship between mindfulness and flourishing and 2) significant negative relationships between stress and both mindfulness and flourishing. Simple regression analyses for the pretest latent variables with GPA showed a significant positive predictive relationship only between pretest flourishing and Spring GPA. The same tests run with the posttest latent variables showed 1) significant positive predictive relationships between GPA and both mindfulness and flourishing and 2) significant negative predictive relationships between stress and GPA. Only posttest flourishing positively predicted retention. For question two, a multilevel model controlling for class sections and gender showed no significant differences in any outcome variable between either group. A post hoc analysis showed that all students had significant decreases in mindfulness and flourishing at the end of the semester and a significant increase in stress.
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 |