Effectiveness of mindfulness training on ratings of perceived stress, mindfulness and well-being of adolescents enrolled in an international baccalaureate diploma program

The presence of stress is normative for individuals, and it is how one copes with stress that is important towards a person's well-being. In stressful situations, one's cognitive appraisal of and emotional reactions to a challenge are based on whether it is perceived as a threat to one's beliefs and goals. Mindfulness meditation training (MMT) is a set of coping strategies that has demonstrated beneficial effects for adults in reducing stress, enhancing wellbeing, and promoting cognitive efficiency. This procedure incorporates breathing techniques to regulate physiological responses and teaches the person to appraise moment to moment sensations, feelings and events as transitory, positive or neutral to assist in emotional regulation. In the past decade, research has suggested that MMT is appropriate and effective for children and adolescents, although most studies have been with clinical populations. The present study examined the relative effectiveness of MMT in stress reduction, and in promoting the mindfulness and well-being of adolescents enrolled in an International Baccalaureate (IB) program. Twelfth-grade students self-selected to participate in either an eight-week MMT course or to complete surveys as part of a no-treatment control group. Ratings for perceived stress, mindfulness, and well-being were collected from the MMT and the control groups at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at one week prior to admission of high stakes IB exams. A repeated measures 2 X 2 ANOVA was conducted for each of the three scales. Within the repeated measures ANOVA, the interaction between the factor of treatment/no treatment and the within-subjects variable "point in time" (before training, after training, and prior to the exam) was found to be statistically significant. Subsequent post hoc testing showed that the significant interaction effects occurred only at pre-test for the three measures of perceived stress, mindfulness and well-being, indicating that the groups were very different to begin with. These findings were discussed with respect to the current literature on MMT. Future directions for research in this area were also discussed, as were the limitations of the study.