A follow‐up study to a randomised control trial to investigate the perceived impact of mindfulness on academic performance in university students

Abstract

Objectives Mindfulness research in education has focused on its potential to support student well‐being. There is a paucity of research on the interaction between mindfulness and academic performance (AP). This qualitative study builds on results of the largest randomised control trial of mindfulness in education to date which suggested mindfulness can have mixed effects on academic performance. A more in‐depth understanding of the relationship between mindfulness and academic performance is therefore needed to ascertain if, how and for which students mindfulness facilitates academic performance. The objective of the study was to capture students’ perceptions of the impact of mindfulness on their academic performance. Methods Thematic analysis was applied to data obtained by six in‐depth interviews from three higher and three lower performing undergraduate participants in the mindfulness intervention arm of the Mindful Student Study randomised control trial. Results Three themes emerged, whereby five students described mindfulness having a positive impact on their academic performance. One student felt mindfulness had an initial negative impact on academic performance. All students felt mindfulness enhanced self‐awareness and self‐regulation of their thinking, feelings and behaviours, and our analysis suggests students perceived these processes underpinned the effect of mindfulness on academic performance. Conclusion Differences in students’ psychological distress and study habits may determine the differing initial impact of mindfulness on academic performance.

Mediating effects of protective factors on COVID-19 anxiety and academic performance of K to 12 Filipino Learners: A PLS-SEM analysis with WarpPLS

“…The findings can explain the effect of mindfulness on academic performance depending on the level of students' psychological discomfort and other factors during this pandemic. Additionally, relevant studies have been conducted (Bóo et al, 2020); (Corti & Gelati, 2020;Lu, Huang, & Rios, 2017).…”

Effectiveness of providing university students with a mindfulness-based intervention to increase resilience to stress: 1-year follow-up of a pragmatic randomised controlled trial

“…We favour the implementation of the MSS to be offered along with other preventative interventions as part of a wider student well-being strategy. The MSS course may not impact the subjective experience of managing academic workload 29 or the frequency of use of mental health support services. However, it may impact the type of mental health support needed in a desirable direction: SAU participants needed more intensive types of UCS support that indicated more severe circumstances, while MSS participants needed types of UCS support that indicated milder severity.…”

The Effect of Mindfulness Meditation on Academic Performance of Students

“…Moreover, MM decreases anxiety, reducing students' social skills and AP [4]. Furthermore, the regulation of attention allows students to maintain awareness for more extended periods of time and be less impressionable to distractions, improving learning and test scores [10].…”

“…Based on the MBSR, mindfulnessbased cognitive therapy (MBCT) [9] was developed to alleviate depression, incorporating mindfulness practices such as meditation and breathing exercises into eightweek sessions. MM is beneficial for improving attention [4,10], memory [11] and executive function [12].…”