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Do Mindfulness Interventions Help Higher Education Students To Flourish (#640)

Tammy L Casselson 1 , Robyn Neeson 1
  1. Holmesglen, Chadstone, VIC, Australia

Aim 

The purpose of this paper is to review the current evidence of the effectiveness of mindfulness on Higher Education students worldwide, and to identify any gaps to be used as the basis for further research in the Australian context.

Methodology

Electronic databases of peer-reviewed journals published in English from 2017-2022 were used to identify research results of mindfulness interventions on post-secondary students attending universities, polytechnics, colleges or institutes of further education and training. The mindfulness intervention could be formal or informal, short, or longer-term. Research articles were classified by student cohort (type of education facility), and geography.

 

Results

Location of Research

Much of the published research has been conducted in United Kingdom and U.S.A. Research has also been done in Canada, Japan, China, Brazil, Philippines, New Zealand and Australia. 

Usher (2019) identified the need for more mental health initiatives in Australia.

 

Student Cohort

The students in the research papers were mainly from universities. Only a minority had the results from students in colleges or institutes of further education.

 

Efficacy of Mindfulness Interventions

The research ranged from clinical placebo- controlled trials to student feedback surveys. All the research identified positive results irrespective of the type or duration of the intervention.

Mindfulness interventions were effective in increasing students’ attention, concentration and working memory. Results have been seen in performance and persistence and engagement. Students were better able to manage stress and symptoms of pain, depression, and anxiety. They showed improved overall wellbeing and compassion. 

Conclusion

This paper shows the gap in knowledge of the effectiveness of mindfulness interventions on higher education students, not attending university, particularly in Australia. It focuses our research on the students’ perspective of mindfulness programs, and how to implement them in a diverse cohort effectively in TAFE, Melbourne, Australia.

 

 

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