Mindfulness for Stress and Well-being in University Students

Summary

In developing countries such as Pakistan, the challenges university students face are many-fold and there is a need for an intervention that helps build students' connection with themselves, utilizing their internal resources to deal with stresses. Mindfulness-based interventions have shown effectiveness with university students in high-income countries. The current study will be testing an adaptation for students of Pakistan of an intervention (Finding Peace in a Frantic World) which is based on principles from both Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy(MBCT) and Mindfulness-based stress reduction(MBSR). The purpose of this pilot trial is to assess the feasibility and acceptability (primary outcomes) of conducting a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of an adapted Mindfulness-based intervention with a wait-list control group for university students in Pakistan to reduce stress and enhance psychological well-being (N=50), which will inform the development of a future large-scale RCT. Keeping in view the COVID-19 lockdown and economic conditions in low-and-middle-income countries (LAMICs), an online program with a remote facilitator is deemed to be more cost-effective, approachable, practical, and de-stigmatizing for students.

Conditions

• Stress
• Well-being

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Mindfulness Training

The Mindfulness Training will be an 8-week course, with group-based online weekly sessions. The mindfulness training, translated and adapted in Urdu, includes 8 guided audio meditations and one introductory audio recording which gives the participants an overview and introduction of the forthcoming 8-week training (e.g what mindfulness is, some common terms used repeatedly). It also includes 8 chapters, corresponding to each week and a workbook to record home practice. The training will start with an online group session after which the participants will be emailed the 1st week's reading material (chapter 1), audio recordings (for that week), home practice (for that week). At the start of every week, the participants will be emailed the required material for that week. Online sessions will be conducted weekly. The participants will also be sent poems and/or quotations relating to the week's theme and based on the session proceedings.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National University of Science and Technology, Pakistan

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Salma Siddiqui · National University of Science and Technology, Pakistan

• Julieta Galante · University of Cambridge, UK

• Siham Sikandar · National Institute of Health, Pakistan

• Anum Sarfraz · National University of Science and Technology, Pakistan

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-02-01

Primary Completion

2022-04-30

Completion

2022-04-30

Countries

• Pakistan

Study Locations