Data_Sheet_1_Being Mindful at University: A Pilot Evaluation of the Feasibility of an Online Mindfulness-Based Mental Health Support Program for Students.docx

University study can be a life period of heightened psychological distress for many students. The development of new preventive and intervention programs to support well-being in university students is a fundamental challenge for mental health professionals. We designed an 8-week online mindfulness-based program (eMBP) combining a face-to-face approach, text, audio, video components, and support psychotherapy principles with a unique intensive reminder system using the Facebook Messenger and Slack applications in two separate runs (N = 692). We assessed the program’s effect on mindful experiencing, perceived stress, emotion regulation strategies, self-compassion, negative affect, and quality of life. The results of the presented pilot study confirmed that eMBP is a feasible and effective tool in university students’ mental health support. The students who completed the eMBP reported a reduction of perceived stress with a large effect size (pη2 = 0.42) as well as a decrease of negative affect experience frequency and intensity (pη2 = 0.31), an increase of being mindful in their life (Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire subscales:pη2 = 0.21, 0.27, 0.25, 0.28, 0.28), and a higher rate of self-compassion (pη2 = 0.28) with a medium effect size. A small effect size was found in the frequency of using a cognitive reappraisal strategy (pη2 = 0.073). One new result is the observation of an eMBP effect (pη2 = 0.27) on the decrease in attributed importance to the quality-of-life components replicated in two consecutive runs of the program. The study affirms that mindfulness-based interventions can be effectively delivered in an eHealth form to university students.

对于多数大学生而言，大学阶段往往是心理困扰高发的人生阶段。开发面向大学生的新型心理健康预防与干预项目，以助力其心理福祉提升，是精神卫生从业者面临的核心挑战。我们设计了一项为期8周的基于正念的在线项目（eMBP），融合线下授课、文本、音频与视频模块，结合心理治疗支持性原则，并通过Facebook Messenger与Slack两款应用搭建了独特的高频提醒系统，该项目分两批开展，总样本量为692名学生（N=692）。我们评估了该项目对正念体验、感知压力、情绪调节策略、自我同情、负性情绪以及生活质量的影响。本预实验结果证实，eMBP是一种可行且有效的大学生心理健康支持工具。完成eMBP的学生报告称，其感知压力得到显著缓解（效应量较大，pη²=0.42），负性情绪的体验频率与强度均有所降低（pη²=0.31），日常正念水平有所提升（五因素正念问卷（Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire）各子量表：pη²分别为0.21、0.27、0.25、0.28、0.28），同时自我同情水平显著升高（效应量中等，pη²=0.28）；在认知重评策略的使用频率方面，仅观察到较小的效应量提升（pη²=0.073）。一项新增发现为：在该项目的两次连续开展中均观察到，eMBP可降低个体对生活质量各维度的重视程度，对应效应量为0.27。本研究证实，基于正念的干预可通过电子健康（eHealth）形式有效应用于大学生群体。