The Effects of Meditation in Reducing Student Stress

This study explores the effectiveness of meditation in reducing stress levels among first-year environmental science students at Murdoch University. The research question is whether meditation significantly reduces stress levels, and the hypothesis is that the meditation group is significantly better in reducing stress compared to the standard group. The study found that students who practiced meditation had lower stress levels than those who did not. The results suggest that students should be encouraged to practice meditation to improve their quality of life.

The effects of meditation in reducing student stress 1
THE EFFECTS OF MEDITATION IN REDUCING STUDENT STRESS
Name
Course Number
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Faculty Name

The effects of meditation in reducing student stress 2
The effects of meditation in reducing student stress
1 Introduction
Stress management is a critical phenomenon in day to day life especially for people
whose daily activities depend on the full-length capacity of thinking. Students experience a great
challenge in finding ways to manage their stress especially in their early time in school due to
high expectations in academic. On their minds, they think that the classes are challenging and the
workloads are unmanageable. As a result, they get stressed, hence affecting their overall
performance in personal and academic activities1. Universities have realized this challenges and
created a social support to help the students fight stress. However, due to self-esteem issues and
embarrassment, not all students are comfortable to seek help whenever they are faced with
stress-related issues. To solve this persistent issue, research has been conducted seeking to
unveil a better and effective method to stress management to help such students.
According to Shapiro et al. 2, mindfulness is an effective way to reduce stress. Also, it
was observed that medication would reduce psychological distress, self-reported state, and
anxiety. They also found that students who exercised mindfulness would have higher levels of
empathy and score of spiritual experiences. In a similar study conducted by Jain et al.3 found that
exercising relaxation and meditation was associated with low levels of distress. Kabat-Zinn and
others4 conducted a study to determine whether medication would effectively contribute to
reducing the sign of anxiety disorders. In their study which included 22 participants screened
with anxiety disorders found that mindfulness mediation effectively reduces symptoms of panic
and anxiety. Therefore, in this study, we will focus on determining whether medication would
significantly reduce student stress levels.
1.1 Research Question
Does meditation significantly reduce stress levels among first-year environmental science
students at Murdoch University?
1.2 Hypothesis
Null hypothesis: There is no difference in stress reduction levels between those who were in the
meditation group compared standard group.
Alternative hypothesis: Meditation group is significantly better in reducing stress compared to
the standard group.

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2 Methods
The study was designed for treatment and control groups – treatment group medicated
daily and the control group visited a counsellor. Their stress levels were recorded at entry and
subsequently after 3 months for a period of one year. This observation was meant to check which
method was better in reducing stress levels for the students.
2.1 Data analysis plan
The data will be analyzed by obtaining averages of stress per individual and comparing
the two groups using independent samples t-test method.
3 Results
3.1 Descriptive statistic
Statistic Standard Meditation
Mean 7.215 5.3
Standard Error 0.173 0.158
Median 7.3 5.4
Mode 7.6 5.6
Standard Deviation 1.091 0.999
Sample Variance 1.191 0.999
Range 4.2 4.4
Minimum 5.2 2.8
Maximum 9.4 7.2
Confidence Level (95.0%) 0.349 0.320

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Female Male Female Male
Standard Group Meditation Group
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Average Stress Levels by Gender
Figure 1: Bar plot of Stress average levels by gender and treatment group
3.2 Inferential statistics
Standard Meditation
Mean 7.215 5.3
Variance 1.191 0.999
Observations 40 40
Pooled Variance 1.095
Hypothesized Mean Difference 0
Degree of freedom 78
t statistic 8.185
P(T<=t) one-tail 0.000
t Critical one-tail 1.665
P(T<=t) two-tail 0.000
t Critical two-tail 1.991
4 Discussion
On average, students who were in the standard group had higher levels of stress as
compared to those who were in the meditation group. The student who experienced the highest
levels of stress was in the standard group, while the one with the least was from the treatment
group. Range statistic for the standard group was 4.2 compared with 4.4 on the treatment.

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Descriptive by gender shows that stress levels in both groups did not vary significantly by
gender. After testing for equality of means using the independent samples t-test methodology, we
obtained a mean difference of 1.915 and a p-value < 0.001. The results of this study coincide
with the findings of a meta-analytic study conducted by Schutte and Malouff 5 who found that
medication is associated with increased number of telomerase – which are enzymes responsible
for adding telomeres on ends of chromosomes after division - in simple words, meditation help
in improving health of a person with is association to stress levels.
5 Conclusion
In conclusion, meditation is associated with fewer stress levels. Therefore, students
should encourage to practice meditation – which will help them reduce their stress levels, hence
improving their quality of life. Further, more research can be conducted to check whether the
result will hold for the other courses. The study might also be limited to generalization because
the students were not randomized and stratified by course, hence no information about various
courses within the university. Finally, we can only generalize the result to students doing
environmental science.

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References
1. Chemers MM, Hu L, Garcia BF. Academic self-efficacy and first-year college student
performance and adjustment. J Educ Psychol [Internet]. 2001;93(1):55–64. Available
from: http://doi.apa.org/getdoi.cfm?doi=10.1037/0022-0663.93.1.55
2. Shapiro SL, Schwartz GE, Bonner G. Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on
medical and premedical students. J Behav Med [Internet]. 1998 Dec;21(6):581–99.
Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9891256
3. Jain S, Shapiro SL, Swanick S, Roesch SC, Mills PJ, Bell I, et al. A randomized
controlled trial of mindfulness meditation versus relaxation training: Effects on distress,
positive states of mind, rumination, and distraction. Ann Behav Med. 2007;33(1):11–21.
4. Kabat-Zinn J, Massion AO, Kristeller J, Peterson LG, Fletcher KE, Pbert L, et al.
Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety
disorders. Am J Psychiatry [Internet]. 1992;149(7):936–43. Available from:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/21545608_Effectiveness_of_a_Meditation-
based_Stress_Reduction_Program_in_the_Treatment_of_Anxiety_Disorders
5. Schutte NS, Malouff JM. A meta-analytic review of the effects of mindfulness meditation
on telomerase activity. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2014;42:45–8.