College can be a time of immense stress.
Mindfulness meditation has been shown to be an effective
stress management technique. A significant limitation of the mindfulness literature, however, is a
reliance on inactive control groups. We compared a mindfulness intervention with both an ecologically
valid, active control (interacting with a dog during a group study break) and a no-treatment control.
Participants (n = 74) were randomly assigned to groups, with the treatment groups completing 4 weekly
sessions (duration: 1 hr). By the end of the 4th session, those in the mindfulness group exhibited
significantly lower state anxiety compared with those in the other groups, while the dog group was also
significantly less anxious than the control group. In addition, both the dog and the mindfulness groups
exhibited significantly less dysphoric affect than the control group. All of the participants came in for a
posttreatment assessment during which they were given a cognitive stressor challenge.
Electrocardiogram data were collected during the cognitive challenge allowing us to assess heart rate
variability (HRV)—a measure of the body’s ability to modulate the physiological stress response.
Participants in the mindfulness group exhibited significantly higher HRV during the cognitive challenge
than those in the other 2 groups, signifying a more-adaptive response to stress (p < .05). Individuals in
the dog group, meanwhile, were no different from control participants. These preliminary findings
suggest that brief mindfulness training can help college students manage their stress in response to the
ubiquitous academic and cognitive challenges of college life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA,
all rights reserved)
Shearer, A., Hunt, M., Chowdhury, M., & Nicol, L. (2016). Effects of a brief mindfulness meditation
intervention on student stress and heart rate variability. International Journal of Stress Management,
23(2), 232–254. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039814
Mindfulness-based skills training has been increasingly incorporated into psychotherapeutic treatment
for a variety of presenting complaints, most notably anxiety- and stress-related disorders. While there
has been considerable literature documenting efficacy of full mindfulness-based treatment regimen
(e.g., Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction [MBSR]), fewer studies have examined the influence of
incorporating distinct elements of these treatments in psychotherapy practice.
Mindfulness may be defined as ‘paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-
judgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment’ (Kabat-Zinn, 2003). It demands the
regulation of attention and an orientation to present-moment curiosity, openness, and acceptance
(Bishop et al., 2004). Mindfulness meditation has been used traditionally for the systematic
development of mindfulness (Carmody et al., 2008); it essentially involves focusing on the mind at
present (Mars and Abbey, 2010), paying attention on purpose, in a moment-to-moment, nonjudgmental
and nonreactive way (Rosenzweig et al., 2010).
As a clinical intervention strategy based on Buddhist philosophy, mindfulness meditation has been
applied in diverse groups to enhance well-being and enable individuals to cope with stress (Irving et al.,
2009). For example, mindfulness meditation was found to effectively improve the quality and duration
of sleep in transplant recipients (Kreitzer et al., 2005), and to reduce depression, anxiety and
psychological distress in patients with chronic somatic diseases (Bohlmeijer et al., 2010), chronic pain
(Rosenzweig et al., 2010), and social anxiety disorder (Goldin and Gross, 2010). Mindfulness meditation
may also improve positive health measures such as spirituality (Mars and Abbey, 2010), and enhance
psycho-emotional stability and concentration in patients with psychiatric disorders (Rubia, 2009).
A randomized controlled trial of the effects of brief mindfulness meditation on anxiety symptoms and
systolic blood pressure in Chinese nursing students
Author links open overlay panelYu Chen a b 1, Xueling Yang a 2, Liyuan Wang c 3, Xiaoyuan Zhang 2013
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2012.11.014
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
Stress is an important psycho-social factor in the educational process that may influence academic
performance and student well-being (Jimenez et al., 2010).
Mindfulness is viewed not as something to get or to acquire, but as an internal resource that already
exists, patiently awaiting to be reawakened (Center for Mindfulness, 2014). Increased mindfulness has
been found to be related to improved psychological functions, and it led to reductions in suffering
Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on depression, anxiety, stress and mindfulness in
Korean nursing students
Author links open overlay panelYeoungsuk Song a, Ruth Lindquist b 2015
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2014.06.010
Over a hundred years ago, educators recognized that a crucial cognitive capacity related to academic
achievement is knowing how to direct and sustain focused attention on relevant stimuli. For example,
William James famously said, “the faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention, over and
over again, is the very root of judgment, character, and will … An education which should improve this
faculty would be the education par excellence” (James, 1890, p. 424). However, he went further on to
say that this was “easier to define this idea than to give practical directions for bringing it about.” Today,
researchers in psychology and neuroscience are beginning to reveal that training in mindfulness is
rooted in what James regarded as, ‘bringing back a wandering attention over and over again’ (e.g., see
Slagter, Davidson, & Lutz, 2011).
Does A Brief Mindfulness Intervention Impact Quiz Performance? 2017
Destany Calma-Birling [email protected] and Regan A. R. GurungView all authors and affiliations
Volume 16, Issue 3
https://doi.org/10.1177/1475725717712785
