Cited by 68Mindfulness and Compassion InterventionsStudent Stress and CopingPsychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction

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

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Galante, Julieta, Stochl, Jan, Dufour, Géraldine, Vainre, Maris, Wagner, Adam Peter, Jones, Peter Brian·2021·Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health

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.

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Authors
Galante, J., Stochl, J., Dufour, G., Vainre, M., Wagner, A. P., & Jones, P. B.
Affiliations
  • University of Cambridge (GB)
  • Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
  • MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (GB)
  • University of East Anglia (GB)
Corresponding author
Galante, Julieta
Venue
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
Publisher
BMJ
Published
2020-09-10
Volume
75
Issue
2
Pages
151-160
ISSN
  • 0141-7681 (ISSN-L)
  • 0143-005X
  • 1470-2738
OpenAlex
W3084193168
Cited by
68
References
37
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 2
FWCI
3.10
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UEA Digital Repository (University of East Anglia) (acceptedVersion)
  • Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Apollo (cc-by)
Funders
  • University of Cambridge (26462689)
  • National Institute for Health Research (RNAG/564)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Student Stress and Coping
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
Keywords
mindfulness-based interventions, stress resilience, university students, student mental health, psychological distress, psychological well-being, dose-response relationship, loss to follow-up, student workload
MeSH terms
Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Stress, Psychological, Students, Universities, Treatment Outcome, Resilience, Psychological, Mindfulness

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