Mindfulness to improve the mental health of university students. A systematic review and meta-analysis


Author: Ana María González-Martín1,2, Agustín Aibar-Almazán3, Yulieth Rivas-Campo4, Yolanda Castellote-Caballero3, María Del Carmen Carcelén-Fraile1

Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Department of Education and Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Atlántico Medio, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.

<sup>2</sup> Department of Psychology, Higher Education Center for Teaching and Educational Research, Madrid, Spain.

<sup>3</sup> Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Jaén, Jaén, Spain.

<sup>4</sup> Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, University of San Buenaventura-Cali, Santiago de Cali, Colombia.
Conference/Journal: Front Public Health
Date published: 2023 Dec 4
Other:
 Volume ID: 11   ,  Pages: 1284632   ,  Special Notes: doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1284632.   ,  Word Count: 139  
    Objectives:

This systematic review and meta-analysis was to analyze the effects of a mindfulness program on mental health in university students.



Methods:

A systematic review was conducted using the databases Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science and CINAHL. The selected studies had to incorporate a mindfulness intervention in university students. The methodological quality of the collected articles was evaluated using the PEDro scale.



Results:

We initially identified 321 studies, of which 21 were included in this review. The interventions focused on mindfulness with durations ranging from 8 weeks to 3 months. The results demonstrated significant effects of a mindfulness intervention on mental health in university students.



Conclusion:

This systematic review and meta-analysis found that mindfulness is effective for improving the mental health of college students.



Systematic review registration:

identifier: CRD42023441453.



Keywords: mental health; meta-analysis; mindfulness; systematic review; university students.



PMID: 38111480 PMCID: PMC10726040 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1284632