Mindfulness Training During a Pandemic: Can Online Mindfulness Training Reduce Distress?
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a number of negative outcomes, including economic, psychological, and physical health concerns (Gruber et al., 2020; Fine, Reichle, & Lord, 2020). Levels of depressive symptoms and anxiety have appeared to be higher during the pandemic than they were prior to the pandemic (O’Connor et al. 2020). Mindfulness meditation training has been shown to reduce the impact of stress on cognitive functioning and anxiety. Reductions in depressive symptomatology have also been shown to occur following mindfulness training. Although mindfulness-based interventions often consist of eight weeks of training with one weekly in-person session, the current study examined a six-week mindfulness training conducted in a university setting. The six-week mindfulness training contained weekly one-hour online meetings with a mindfulness instructor, daily practice sessions, and text messages to support practice. Participants completed measures of perceived stress, self-reported mind wandering, mindfulness, self-reported cognitive failures, and COVID related distress. Additionally, a subset of the participants completed a measure of sustained attention. We hypothesized that levels of perceived stress, COVID related distress, cognitive failures, and self-reported mind wandering would decrease while measures of mindfulness and sustained attention would increase following the six-week mindfulness program. The results suggested a significant decrease in perceived stress, COVID related distress, and self-reported mind wandering, while indicating increases in sustained attention and self-reported cognitive failures. The results provide initial evidence that mindfulness training can be delivered in an online format and are consistent with in-person mindfulness training interventions.
Faculty Sponsors
Dr. Jonathan B. Banks, Dr. James Pann
Project Type
Event
Location
Alvin Sherman Library
Start Date
4-6-2021 12:00 PM
End Date
4-9-2021 12:00 PM
Mindfulness Training During a Pandemic: Can Online Mindfulness Training Reduce Distress?
Alvin Sherman Library
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a number of negative outcomes, including economic, psychological, and physical health concerns (Gruber et al., 2020; Fine, Reichle, & Lord, 2020). Levels of depressive symptoms and anxiety have appeared to be higher during the pandemic than they were prior to the pandemic (O’Connor et al. 2020). Mindfulness meditation training has been shown to reduce the impact of stress on cognitive functioning and anxiety. Reductions in depressive symptomatology have also been shown to occur following mindfulness training. Although mindfulness-based interventions often consist of eight weeks of training with one weekly in-person session, the current study examined a six-week mindfulness training conducted in a university setting. The six-week mindfulness training contained weekly one-hour online meetings with a mindfulness instructor, daily practice sessions, and text messages to support practice. Participants completed measures of perceived stress, self-reported mind wandering, mindfulness, self-reported cognitive failures, and COVID related distress. Additionally, a subset of the participants completed a measure of sustained attention. We hypothesized that levels of perceived stress, COVID related distress, cognitive failures, and self-reported mind wandering would decrease while measures of mindfulness and sustained attention would increase following the six-week mindfulness program. The results suggested a significant decrease in perceived stress, COVID related distress, and self-reported mind wandering, while indicating increases in sustained attention and self-reported cognitive failures. The results provide initial evidence that mindfulness training can be delivered in an online format and are consistent with in-person mindfulness training interventions.
