Repository logo
 

Effectiveness of providing university students with a mindfulness-based intervention to increase resilience to stress: 1-year follow-up of a pragmatic randomised controlled trial.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Change log

Authors

Stochl, Jan 
Dufour, Géraldine 
Vainre, Maris 
Wagner, Adam Peter 

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There is concern that increasing demand for student mental health services reflects deteriorating student well-being. We designed a pragmatic, parallel, single-blinded randomised controlled trial hypothesising that providing mindfulness courses to university students would promote their resilience to stress up to a year later. Here we present 1-year follow-up outcomes. METHODS: University of Cambridge students without severe mental illness or crisis were randomised (1:1, remote software-generated random numbers), to join an 8-week mindfulness course adapted for university students (Mindfulness Skills for Students (MSS)), or to mental health support as usual (SAU). RESULTS: We randomised 616 students; 53% completed the 1-year follow-up questionnaire. Self-reported psychological distress and mental well-being improved in the MSS arm for up to 1 year compared to SAU (p<0.001). Effects were smaller than during the examination period. No significant differences between arms were detected in the use of University Counselling Service and other support resources, but there was a trend for MSS participants having milder needs. There were no differences in students' workload management; MSS participants made more donations. Home practice had positive dose-response effects; few participants meditated. No adverse effects related to self-harm, suicidality or harm to others were detected. CONCLUSION: Loss to follow-up is a limitation, but evidence suggests beneficial effects on students' average psychological distress that last for at least a year. Effects are on average larger at stressful times, consistent with the hypothesis that this type of mindfulness training increases resilience to stress. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ACTRN12615001160527.

Description

Keywords

Health services, Mental health, Psychological stress, Randomised trials, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Mindfulness, Resilience, Psychological, Stress, Psychological, Students, Treatment Outcome, Universities

Journal Title

J Epidemiol Community Health

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0143-005X
1470-2738

Volume Title

75

Publisher

BMJ
Sponsorship
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (via Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) (unknown)
National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR200177)
This is a summary of research funded by the University of Cambridge Vice-Chancellor’s Endowment Fund (RNER–LFHA), the University Counselling Service (no specific grant) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration East of England (ARC EoE) programme (RNAG/564).