Abstract

Background: Adolescence represents a period in a person’s life where they develop skills and competencies necessary to flourish in the physical, social, emotional, and academic areas of their lives. Additionally, adolescents are facing unprecedented social and mental health challenges. As such, it is important to equip adolescents with tools to help them succeed. Mindfulness is one resource which has been shown to improve symptoms of stress, depression, and anxiety, while also improving mindfulness ability and overall well-being. Aims: The purpose of this study was to conduct a pilot study to examine the efficacy of a self-guided, internet-delivered mindfulness training with a non-clinical sample of adolescents compared to a control group. Method: A sample of 171 adolescents ages 14-18 participated in this study. We examined participants’ self- report ratings of subjective well-being, mindfulness, depressive symptoms, and anxious symptoms. We employed a randomized, counterbalanced design to examine outcomes between groups and within each group over time. Analyses included multilevel modeling for partially clustered data to examine main effects, time by group interactions and between group effect sizes. Results: Participants who completed the mindfulness instruction reported significantly improved scores in mindfulness and anxiety symptoms compared to a waitlist control group. These changes appeared to be stable across a follow-up period. Participant feedback suggested that those who used the course found it accessible and helpful, although greater external support to promote course participation may be necessary to maximize course outcomes.

Degree

PhD

College and Department

Family, Home, and Social Sciences; Psychology

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/