A randomized controlled trial of the effects of brief mindfulness meditation on anxiety symptoms and systolic blood pressure in Chinese nursing students.
Author: Chen Y, Yang X, Wang L, Zhang X.
Affiliation:
School of Nursing, Southern Medical University, 1838 North Guangzhou Avenue, Guangzhou, Guangdong province 510515, China. Electronic address: truelife2010@126.com.
Conference/Journal: Nurse Educ Today.
Date published: 2012 Dec 19
Other:
Pages: S0260-6917(12)00387-5 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.nedt.2012.11.014 , Word Count: 274
BACKGROUND:
Previous studies suggested that mindfulness meditation effectively reduced stress-related anxiety and depression symptoms, but no research has evaluated the efficacy of mindfulness meditation in nurses and nursing students in China.
OBJECTIVES:
To evaluate the effects of brief mindfulness meditation on the anxiety and depression symptoms and autonomic nervous system activity in Chinese nursing students.
DESIGN:
A randomized controlled trial.
SETTING:
A medical university in Guangzhou, China.
PARTICIPANTS:
One hundred and five nursing students were randomly approached by email and seventy-two responded. Sixty recruited students were randomized into meditation and control group (n=30 each) after screening and exclusion due to factors known to influence mood ratings and autonomic nervous system measures.
METHODS:
The meditation group performed mindfulness meditation 30min daily for 7 consecutive days. The control group received no intervention except pre-post treatment measurements. The Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and Self-Rating Depression Scale were administered to participants, and heart rate and blood pressure were measured. Pre- and post-treatment data were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance.
RESULTS:
Differences between pre- and post-treatment Self-Rating Anxiety Scale scores were significantly larger in the meditation group than in the control group, but no similar effect was observed for Self-Rating Depression Scale scores. Systolic blood pressure was reduced more after the intervention in the meditation group than in the control group, with an average reduction of 2.2mmHg. A moderate level of anxiety was associated with the maximum meditation effect.
CONCLUSIONS:
Brief mindfulness meditation was beneficial for Chinese nursing students in reducing anxiety symptoms and lowering systolic blood pressure. Individuals with moderate anxiety are most likely to benefit from a short-term mindfulness meditation program.
Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
PMID: 23260618
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