Managing Stress in College Students with Mindfulness

The lived experience of college students includes high levels of stress leading to impaired physical and psychological health, diminished quality of life, poor sleep and decreased academic performance. Recent research has... [ view full abstract ]

The lived experience of college students includes high levels of stress leading to impaired physical and psychological health, diminished quality of life, poor sleep and decreased academic performance. Recent research has suggested that up to 50% of college students experience significant stress levels, anxiety and/or depression. (Regehr, Glancy & Pitts, 2013) A study done by occupational therapy educators described stress levels in students as above average or the highest in their lives. (Pfeiffer, Kranz & Scoggin, 2008; College campuses world-wide are developing programs to help students manage their stress levels. Research on mindfulness-based interventions research has demonstrated the benefits of mindfulness in physical and psychological health. A mindfulness program for students based on emerging adulthood theory was developed at Duke University. The first randomized controlled trial of the Koru Mindfulness program (Greeson, Juberg, Maytan, James & Rogers, 2012) showed statistically significant improvements in perceived stress, sleep problems, mindfulness and self-compassion. This workshop will describe the implementation of the Koru Program at a university in the southwest U.S. in Fall 2014 and will report results on stress levels, sleep, self-compassion and mindfulness. This presentation will describe how the Koru program was implemented and marketed, the response of students to the program. Implications for occupational science will be discussed as they relate to understanding the effects of the demands of college academic life and this may lead to increased awareness of the lack of occupational balance in students and the need to develop interventions to promote healthier coping strategies.