Mindfulness Meditation Training and Graduate Student Wellness Erin B. Anderson, MPH Candidate & Carol A. Dolan, PhD

Introduction

Aim

Methods Results

Conclusions

References

Mindfulness training is a secular, meditation-based practice characterized by the cultivation of acceptance and non-judgmental attention to the present moment, and it has been found to alleviate symptoms for a wide variety of conditions, bringing cost-effective improvements in both physical health and psychological wellbeing (Grossman et al., 2004). Previous research has shown that mindfulness has been associated in lower levels of perceived stress and improved coping among undergraduate students (Weinstein et al., 2009).

The purpose of this study was to offer mindfulness training to a graduate student population and track its effects on perceived stress levels, medical symptoms, and coping skills. Our secondary purpose was methodological; to detect if 8 weekly sessions of one hour each would produce a significant effect.

Our hypotheses were that upon completion of mindfulness training, (1) perceived stress levels will decrease or show less of an increase as compared to controls; (2) physical symptoms frequency and severity will decrease or show less of an increase as compared to controls; and (3) avoidance coping will decrease and approach-style coping will increase as compared to controls.

Measures

•  Perceived Stress Scale

•  Symptoms of Illness Checklist

•  Brief COPE

•  “Mindful Benefit” subscale = religious/spiritual and acceptance subscales

•  “Self-blame + Denial” subscale = self-blame and denial subscales

Participants

•  29 graduate students of Boston University:

•  15 meditation group participants

•  14 control group participants

Course Curriculum

•  Adapted from the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program

•  Didactic lecture, group discussion, and active meditation practice

•  BUSPH student instructor with previous MBSR training and experience leading meditations in a clinical setting

Procedure

•  All students completed measures at pre-test and post-test

•  Meditation group participated in 8 weeks of one-hour mindfulness meditation sessions

•  Control group served as a comparison for all measures at baseline and at follow up

•  Eight weeks of mindfulness meditation has the capacity to reduce stress among graduate students

•  Training can also influence coping skills, increasing spirituality and acceptance as well as decreasing self-blame and denial

•  Though symptoms of illness were trending downward among meditation students in the present study, further study is needed to determine the effects of mindfulness meditation training on symptoms of illness

Meditation” by Scott Schumacher is licensed under CC By 2.0

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Meditation Control

Perceived Stress Scores Pre test Post test

Change Scores t = 2.29 df = 27 p = 0.0303*

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Meditation Control

Mindful Benefit Coping Scores Pre test Post test

Change Scores t = -2.29 df = 26 p = 0.0307*

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Meditation Control

Self-Blame + Denial Coping Scores

Pre test Post test

Change Scores t = 2.37 df = 26 p = 0.0257*

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Meditation Control

Symptoms of Illness Scores Pre test

Post test

Change Scores t = 1.73 df = 27 p = 0.0943

Grossman, P., Niemann, L., Schmidt, S., & Walach, H. (2004). Mindfulness-based stress reduction and health benefits. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 57(1), 35–43. doi:10.1016/S0022-3999(03)00573-7

Weinstein, N., Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2009). A multi- method examination of the effects of mindfulness on stress attribution, coping, and emotional well-being. Journal of Research in Personality, 43(3), 374–385. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2008.12.008