Measuring Facets of Mindfulness Among Undergraduate Students Handout
Mindfulness has been defined as“paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn, 2006, pg. 145)
Mindfulness training enhances personal awareness, self-control, self-respect, personal integrity, academic performance, concentration, perceptual sensitivity, reaction time, memory, empathy, self-esteem, better sleep quality, stress reduction, an overall increase in personal wellness, self-awareness, self value, self mastery, and self regulation
Mindfulness interventions have shown to help people who have anxiety, depression, chronic pain, eating disorders, and need to lose weight or overcome drug or alcohol problems
The researchers were granted access to the student’s email addresses through the freedom of information act officer at this university. A total of 422 students responded to the anonymous electronic survey and completed all questions within the survey. The researchers were granted permission to use the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), which assesses five elements of mindfulness:
Observing (attending to or noticing internal and external stimuli, such as sensations, emotions, cognitions, sights, sounds, and smells)
Describing (noting or mentally labeling these stimuli with words)
Acting with awareness (attending to one’s current actions, as opposed to behaving automatically or absent-minded)
Non-judging of inner experience (refraining from evaluation of one’s sensations, thoughts, and emotions)
Non-reactivity to inner experience (allowing thoughts and feelings to come and go, without attention getting caught up in them)
There were 422 participants, 258 females and 163 males, and 157 of them had taken the health education 101 course and 264 had not taken the health education course at this university. Total mindufulness between students who have taken health education 101 and student who have not, ranged from a mean of 133.63 and SD of 15.72 in students who have taken health education 101 and a mean of 132.29 and SD of 18.29 in students who have not taken health education 101. An independent T-Test showed no significant difference in total mindfulness scores between students who have taken health education 101 and students who have not taken health education 101, t(420) = .766, p > .001(.444). Pearson’s correlation was conducted to show which of the five facets of mindfulness were more correlated to the total mindfulness score. The findings revealed that act with awareness (.716) had the greatest correlation followed by nonreact (.683), describe (.674), nonjudge (.611), and observe (.461).
Teacher Activities: attend to and reflect on one’s current actions (discussions/journals), assess how to react in specific health related situations and how to act with awareness, worry box, ethical will, using songs or pictures to express their feelings, visualization, guided meditation, and active reflection on past events.