The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based-Stress-Reduction for Military Cadets on Perceived Stress


Author: Yeh-Hung Chen1,2, Fa-Chung Chiu3,2, Yao-Nan Lin4,2, Yu-Lin Chang2

Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Department of Psychology and Social Work, National Defense University, Taipei.

<sup>2</sup> Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, 34879National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei.

<sup>3</sup> Department of Counseling Psychology, 25795Chinese Culture University, Taipei.

<sup>4</sup> Department of Business Administration, 34903Fu Jen Catholic University, Taipei.
Conference/Journal: Psychol Rep
Date published: 2021 Apr 20
Other:
  Special Notes: doi: 10.1177/00332941211010237.   ,  Word Count: 254  
    This study aimed to develop a program of mindfulness-based stress reduction for military cadets (MBSR-MC). On the basis of a pretest-posttest design, participants were assigned to either a control or an experimental group to examine the effectiveness of MBSR-MC. First, 60 volunteering cadets of National Defense University were randomly assigned to the MBSR-MC group (n = 30) and the control group (n = 30). In the pretest, all participants were required to complete the Taiwanese version of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (T-FFMQ) and a perceived stress scale (PSS). Subsequently, the MBSR-MC group participated in the 8-week MBSR-MC program, whereas the control group did not receive any experimental treatment. One week following the completion of the program, a posttest consisted of the same questions as the pretest was conducted. Statistical analysis showed that (1) Comparing with the control group, the MBSR-MC group showed superior performance in three subscales of T-FFMQ, namely Acting with awareness, Non-judgment, and Non-reactivity. However, no significant difference was found in the remaining two facets: Observing and Describing. (2) The perceived stress score of the MBSR-MC group was significantly lower than that of the control group. Furthermore, an analysis of mediating effect showed that Acting with awareness, Non-judgment, and Non-reactivity were mediating variables of the relationship between MBSR-MC and perceived stress. The aforementioned results indicated that MBSR-MC training significantly increased military cadets' Acting with awareness, Non-judgment, and Non-reactivity, thereby significantly reducing their perceived stress. Therefore, this study supported the effectiveness of the MBSR-MC program on perceived stress.



Keywords: MBSR-MC; mediating effect; military cadets; mindfulness; perceived stress.



PMID: 33878969 DOI: 10.1177/00332941211010237