A randomized controlled trial of mindfulness-based stress reduction on academic resilience and performance in college students

Abstract

Objective

The transition into college can pose barriers for student success. We examined the impact of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) compared to an active and no treatment control group, respectively, on stressor appraisals, academic persistence, and performance in unversity students.

Participants

Students were randomly assigned to receive MBSR (n = 29), study skills active control (n = 27), or no treatment (n = 29).

Method

Participants reported stressor appraisals and academic persistence pre- and post-intervention. Semester grade point average (GPA) and enrollment was also obtained.

Results

Academic stressor appraisals did not vary by group. MBSR was protective against depleted academic persistence, whereas academic persistence decreased in the control groups. Enrollment rates remained unchanged in the MBSR group, but increased in the active control relative to no treatment. Finally, GPA improved in the MBSR group, but not controls.

Conclusions

Findings suggest that MBSR confers some benefits for resilience in university students.

Keywords:

• Mindfulness
• stress
• academic success
• persistence
• resilience

Authors’ contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception, design, analysis, and manuscript preparation. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the US and received approval from the Wright State University Institutional Review Board.

Ethics statement

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee (Wright State University SC# 5922) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Funding

This research was supported in part by a grant from the Wright State University Graduate School.