Effects of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention on Anxiety, De-pression, and Stress in University Students
Keywords:
FFMQ, SPSS, Stress, Meditation, Participants, Dass-21, Anxiety, Depression
Abstract
The study explores the impact of a mindfulness-based intervention on anxiety, depression, and stress among university students in Iraq. Despite extensive research on mindfulness, there remains a knowledge gap in its specific effects on these mental health parameters within the Iraqi student population. The method involved a year-long study with 29 students, utilizing the Dass-21 and Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) for data collection. Findings indicated significant reductions in anxiety, depression, and stress scores post-intervention, with mindfulness proving effective across genders. The results imply that incorporating mindfulness practices in university curricula could enhance students' mental health and academic performance, promoting a more supportive educational environment.
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F. Pagnini and D. Philips, "Being mindful about mindfulness," The Lancet Psychiatry, vol. 2, pp. 288–289, 2015.
H. A. Slagter, R. J. Davidson, and A. Lutz, "Mental Training as a Tool in the Neuroscientific Study of Brain and Cognitive Plasticity," Front. Hum. Neurosci., vol. 5, 2011.
W. Ramel, P. R. Goldin, P. E. Carmona, and J. R. McQuaid, "The effects of mindfulness meditation on cog-nitive processes and affect in patients with past depression," Cognit. Ther. Res., 2004. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:COTR.0000045557.15923.96
S. G. Hofmann, A. T. Sawyer, A. A. Witt, and D. Oh, "The Effect of Mindfulness-Based Therapy on Anxiety and Depression: A Meta-Analytic Review," J. Consult. Clin. Psychol., 2010. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018555
Y. Song and R. Lindquist, "Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on depression, anxiety, stress and mindfulness in Korean nursing students," Nurse Educ. Today., vol. 35, pp. 86–90, 2015. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2014.06.010
J. L. Buchanan, "Prevention of depression in the college student population: A review of the literature," Arch. Psychiatr. Nurs., vol. 26, pp. 21–42, 2012. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnu.2011.03.003
A. Santoso, W. R. Ardi, R. L. Prasetya, M. Dwidiyanti, D. Y. Wijayanti, M. Mu’in, and N. A. Aisah, "Tingkat depresi mahasiswa keperawatan di tengah wabah COVID-19," Holist. Nurs. Health Sci., vol. 3, pp. 1–8, 2020. doi: 10.14710/hnhs.3.1.2020.1-8.
J. S. R. Mahmoud, R. T. Staten, L. A. Hall, and T. A. Lennie, "The relationship among young adult college students’ depression, anxiety, stress, demographics, life satisfaction, and coping styles," Issues Ment. Health Nurs., vol. 33, pp. 149–156, 2012. doi: 10.3109/01612840.2011.629708.
J. García-González, W. Ruqiong, R. Alarcon-Rodriguez, M. Requena-Mullor, C. Ding, and M. I. Ventu-ra-Miranda, "Analysis of Anxiety Levels of Nursing Students Because of e-Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Healthcare., vol. 9, p. 252, 2021. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9030252
W. Cao, Z. Fang, G. Hou, M. Han, X. Xu, J. Dong, and J. Zheng, "The psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China," Psychiatry Res., vol. 287, p. 112934, 2020. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112934
"COVID-19 Pandemic Has Worsened Pre-Existing Mental Health Conditions," News-Medical Net, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200601/COVID-19-pandemic-has-worsened-pre-existing-mental-health-conditions.aspx. [Accessed: 14-Apr-2022].
N. Shikai, M. Shono, and T. Kitamura, "Effects of coping styles and stressful life events on depression and anxiety in Japanese nursing students: A longitudinal study," Int. J. Nurs. Prac., vol. 15, pp. 198–204, 2009. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-172X.2009.01745.x
E. Warnecke, S. Quinn, K. Ogden, N. Towle, and M. R. Nelson, "A randomised controlled trial of the effects of mindfulness practice on medical student stress levels," Med. Educ., vol. 45, pp. 381–388, 2011. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2923.2010.03877.x
S. Kim, "Effects of yogic eye exercises on eye fatigue in undergraduate nursing students," J Phys Ther Sci., vol. 28, no. 6, pp. 1813–1815, 2016.
D. Oman, S. L. Shapiro, C. E. Thoresen, T. G. Plante, and T. Flinders, "Meditation lowers stress and supports forgiveness among college students: A randomized control trial," J Am Coll Health., vol. 56, no. 5, pp. 569–578, 2008.
E. Warnecke, S. Quinn, K. Ogden, N. Towle, and M. R. Nelson, "A randomised controlled trial of the effects of mindfulness practice on medical student stress levels," Med. Educ., vol. 45, pp. 381–388, 2011.
M. O’Driscoll, S. Byrne, A. McGillicuddy, S. Lambert, and L. J. Sahm, "The effects of mindfulness-based interventions for health and social care undergraduate students a systematic review of the literature," Psychol Health Med., vol. 22, no. 7, pp. 851–865, 2017.
L. J. Julian, "Measures of anxiety," Arthritis Care Res., vol. 63, no. 0 11, 2011.
A. T. Beck, N. Epstein, G. Brown, and R. A. Steer, "An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: psychometric properties," J Consult Clin Psychol., vol. 56, pp. 893–897, 1988.
A. D. Muntingh, C. M. van der Feltz-Cornelis, H. W. van Marwijk, P. Spinhoven, B. W. Penninx, and A. J. van Balkom, "Is the Beck Anxiety Inventory a good tool to assess the severity of anxiety? A primary care study in The Netherlands study of depression and anxiety (NESDA)," BMC Fam Pract., vol. 12, p. 66, 2011. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2296-12-66
S. Cohen and G. Williamson, "Perceived Stress in a probability sample of the United States," in The Social Psychology of Health: Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology, S. Spacapam and S. Oskamp, Eds., Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1988, pp. 31–32.
E. H. Lee, "Review of the psychometric evidence of the perceived stress scale," Asian Nursing Research, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 121–127, 2012.
R. A. Baer, G. T. Smith, J. Hopkins, J. Krietemeyer, and L. Toney, "Using self-report assessment methods to explore facets of mindfulness," Assessment, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 27–45, 2006.
P. Kinser, S. Braun, G. Deeb, C. Carrico, and A. Dow, "“Awareness is the first step”: An interprofessional course on mindfulness & mindful-movement for health care professionals and students," Complement Ther Clin Pract., vol. 25, pp. 18–26, 2016.
M. De Vibe, I. Solhaug, R. Tyssen, O. Friborg, J. H. Rosenvinge, T. Sørlie, and A. Bjørndal, "Mindfulness training for stress management: A randomised controlled study of medical and psychology students," BMC Med. Educ., vol. 13, p. 107, 2013. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-13-107
Psychology Foundation of Australia, "Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS)," 2013. [Online]. Available: http://www.psychologyfoundation.org.au. [Accessed: 12-Jul-2022].
R. Widyana, Sumiharso, and R. M. Safitri, "Psychometric properties of the internet-administered version of depression, anxiety and stress scales (DASS-42) in sample Indonesian adult," J. Talent Dev. Excell., vol. 12, pp. 1422–1434, 2020.
Published
2024-06-24
How to Cite
Al-Hussari, Z. N. A. (2024). Effects of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention on Anxiety, De-pression, and Stress in University Students. Central Asian Journal of Medical and Natural Science, 5(3), 632-640. https://doi.org/10.17605/cajmns.v5i3.2490
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Copyright (c) 2024 Zena Nabeel Ahmed Al-Hussari
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
