Effects of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention on the Physical and Psychological Well-Being in Teenagers
Year: 2023
Type: conference-paper
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: As an evidence-based practice for stress reduction, with positive outcomes on mental and physical health, mindfulness proved its effectiveness on behaviors, cognitive abilities, emotional well-being in various populations. One of the many conceptualizations of mindfulness, Baer’s five facets mindfulness model, includes five key components of the mindfulness practice: observing, describing, acting with awareness, non-judgement, and non-reactivity to inner experience. These were included in the “In This Moment” program, by Strosahl and Robinson (2015), an effective intervention for distress management. Our research tested the effectiveness of the program on a sample of 431 teenagers from various high-schools in Romania. 164 high school students (93 females, mean age 16.46) had weekly meetings with the trainer, who presented them the exercises, which they subsequently practiced on their own, for one week. The implemented program entailed 9 weeks of practice. Our control group consisted of 217 high school students (112 females, mean age 16.01) The participants completed measures of psychological flexibility, level of mindfulness, satisfaction with life, depression, anxiety, and stress screening, test anxiety, shyness, and degree of somatic complaints before and after implementation of the program. A three month follow up assessment was also performed. We found that mindfulness practice has a positive effect on psychological flexibility, slightly contributing to the decrease of the test anxiety, and to the improvement of somatic well-being, with some of the positive changes maintained also at follow-up. The results will be presented in the light of evidence by other authors and several possible implications will be further discussed on the effects of mindfulness-based practice on physical activity and performance in sports. Keywords: mindfulness; psychological flexibility; somatic well-being; stress management; performance in sports.
DOI: 10.24193/icu2022.02
Institution: Babeș-Bolyai University
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4411457091