The Effects of Mindfulness Practice on Anxiety and Test Anxiety in a College Student Population Utilizing a RCT and WLC.
John E. Lothes, Zayne Naseer, Brooke Perretti
Psychological Reports July 7, 2025 DOI: 10.1177/00332941251358205 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 79 |
| Population | College students |
| Intervention | sitting meditation |
| Duration | 5-week intervention |
| Topics | Anxiety Meditation |
| Keywords | College students Mindfulness practices: mindfulness Online mindfulness practices Mindfulness skills Easing academic pressure Reduce anxiety Lessens student stress Reduce test anxiety |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key findings | Both groups showed significant within-group reductions in test anxiety, overall anxiety, and DASS scores from start to finish of their mindfulness intervention. |
Abstract
Mindfulness interventions for test anxiety in a college student population are beneficial. This study expands on the existing literature by examining how online mindfulness practices may help alleviate anxiety and test anxiety in college students utilizing a waitlist control group (WLC). This study assessed the effects of online mindfulness practices over a five-week period on anxiety and test anxiety in college students. Participants included 79 college students that were randomly assigned to either sitting meditation or WLC. Weekly mindfulness practices were given to participants to complete on their own for 5 weeks. The WLC did not do any mindfulness for the first five weeks. Participants in both conditions showed significant within-group reductions in test anxiety, overall anxiety, and DASS scores from start to finish of their mindfulness intervention. Both groups also showed increases in FFMQ scores. Mindfulness may play a role in the reduction of anxiety and test anxiety. While college counseling centers are facing hiring challenges, being understaffed, and counselors dealing with burnout, offering resources such as free online mindfulness programs can provide supplemental options for counseling centers. They also offer students dealing with anxiety and test anxiety an option to utilize these programs on their own. Further research is needed to further determine how mindfulness may affect anxiety and test anxiety in college students.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on anxiety, most cited first.
Citations in the library
Cites 14
- Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Assessment February 29, 2008
- Investigating the phenomenological matrix of mindfulness-related practices from a neurocognitive perspective. American Psychologist October 1, 2015
- Does the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire measure what we think it does? Construct validity evidence from an active controlled randomized clinical trial. Psychological Assessment October 13, 2015
- Mindfulness to improve the mental health of university students. A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Public Health 2023
- Sitting Meditation and Mindfulness Effects on Overall Anxiety and Test Anxiety Among College Students Mind, Brain, and Education February 1, 2023
and 9 more in the library