An Investigation of Mindfulness Dosages on College Students' Stress Reactivity

Mindfulness training is a popular technique for reducing stress among students, but there is no established understanding of the most efficient duration or practice length for this type of training. This project compared the... [ view full abstract ]

Mindfulness training is a popular technique for reducing stress among students, but there is no established understanding of the most efficient duration or practice length for this type of training. This project compared the effectiveness of different mindfulness training doses on student’s self-reported and physiological stress responses after a week of training. Middlebury College students were assigned to either 30, 20, and 10 minute daily a) mindfulness training; or, b) attention training that consisted of focused coloring. There was also a waitlist control group that didn’t undergo either training. Each group completed self-reports of trait anxiety and mindfulness prior to training. To investigate the effects of mindfulness training on stress responses elicited during social evaluative situations, students underwent the Trier Social Stress test while their galvanic skin response was recorded and then provided self-reports of stress post-test. We predicted that mindfulness practices would be more effective at reducing social stress responses than attention training alone and that longer training durations would result in more rapid stress remediation abilities.