Data from: Mindfulness online: a preliminary evaluation of the feasibility of a web-based mindfulness course and the impact on stress

OBJECTIVES: Stress has been shown to have a number of negative effects on
health over time. Mindfulness interventions have been shown to decrease
perceived stress but access to interventions is limited. Therefore, the
effectiveness of an online mindfulness course for perceived stress was
investigated. DESIGN: A preliminary evaluation of an online mindfulness
course. PARTICIPANTS: This sample consisted of 100 self-referrals to the
online course. The average age of participants was 48 years and 74% were
women. INTERVENTIONS: The online programme consisted of modules taken from
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy
and lasted for approximately 6 weeks. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME
MEASURES: Participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) before
the course, after the course and at 1-month follow-up. Completion of
formal (eg, body scan, mindful movement) and informal (eg, mindful meal,
noticing) mindfulness activities was self-reported each week. RESULTS:
Participation in the online mindfulness course significantly reduced
perceived stress upon completion and remained stable at follow-up. The
pre-post effect size was equivalent to levels found in other class-based
mindfulness programmes. Furthermore, people who had higher PSS scores
before the course reported engaging in significantly more mindfulness
practice, which was in turn associated with greater decreases in PSS.
CONCLUSIONS: Because perceived stress significantly decreased with such
limited exposure to mindfulness, there are implications for the
accessibility of mindfulness therapies online. Future research needs to
evaluate other health outcomes for which face-to-face mindfulness
therapies have been shown to help, such as anxiety and depressive
symptoms.