Six-year positive effects of a mindfulness-based intervention on mindfulness, coping and well-being in medical and psychology students; Results from a randomized controlled trial.


Author: de Vibe M1, Solhaug I2,3, Rosenvinge JH3, Tyssen R4, Hanley A5,6, Garland E5,6

Affiliation: <sup>1</sup>Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.

<sup>2</sup>The Pain Clinic, University Hospital of Northern Norway, Tromsø, Norway.

<sup>3</sup>Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.

<sup>4</sup>Department of Behavioural Sciences in Medicine, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.

<sup>5</sup>College of Social Work, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States of America.

<sup>6</sup>Center on Mindfulness and Integrative Health Intervention Development, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States of America.
Conference/Journal: PLoS One.
Date published: 2018 Apr 24
Other:
 Volume ID: 13   ,  Issue ID: 4   ,  Pages: e0196053   ,  Special Notes: doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196053. eCollection  2018.   ,  Word Count: 220  
    Longitudinal research investigating the enduring impact of mindfulness training is scarce. This study investigates the six-year effects of a seven-week mindfulness-based course, by studying intervention effects in the trajectory of dispositional mindfulness and coping skills, and the association between those change trajectories and subjective well-being at six-year follow-up. 288 Norwegian medical and psychology students participated in a randomized controlled trial. 144 received a 15-hour mindfulness course over seven weeks in the second or third semester with booster sessions twice yearly, while the rest continued their normal study curricula. Outcomes were subjective well-being, and dispositional mindfulness and coping assessed using the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire and the Ways of Coping Checklist. Analyses were performed for the intention-to-treat sample, using latent growth curve models. At six-year follow-up, students receiving mindfulness training reported increased well-being. Furthermore, they reported greater increases in the trajectory of dispositional mindfulness and problem-focused coping along with greater decreases in the trajectory of avoidance-focused coping. Increases in problem-focused coping predicted increases in well-being. These effects were found despite relatively low levels of adherence to formal mindfulness practice. The findings demonstrate the viability of mindfulness training in the promotion of well-being and adaptive coping, which could contribute to the quality of care given, and to the resilience and persistence of health care professionals.



TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00892138.



PMID: 29689081  DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196053