Mindfulness: An Effective Vehicle

Running Head: MINDFULNESS: AN EFFECTIVE VEHICLE 1
Mindfulness is an Effective Vehicle in Dealing with Stress,
Depression and Anxiety among university students
Stjepan Sambol
Victoria University

MINDFULNESS: AN EFFECTIVE VEHICLE 2
Abstract
Mindfulness has been proved to be an effective vehicle or tool for reducing anxiety, stress,
and depression. The main aim of this study was investigating if participating in a mindfulness
intervention program for eight days would alter depression, stress, and anxiety levels of some
university students. 555 participants (students) were selected to take part in the study. The
method that was used in the study was applying the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale
(DASS-21) to measure the depression, stress, and anxiety levels of the participants. It was
found that participating in the mindfulness program helped to reduce stress and anxiety levels
significantly and had minimal effect on depression. These findings supported our predictions
before taking the study.
Results
The results table
Student Pre-
Mindfulness
Student Post
Mindfulness
Control Group
Depression M=5.36 (3.62) M=5.29 (4.50) M=5.38 (4.06)
Anxiety M=5.60 (4.21) M=5.58 (4.06) M=4.23 (3.85)
Stress M=6.45 (4.14) M=5.75 (4.09) M=5.70 (3.81)
The results table shows that the means/averages and the standard deviations of the
considered variables (anxiety, depression, and stress levels of the students) before (pre) and
after (post) the mindfulness program. From the results shown in the table, it’s evident that the
mindfulness program, which lasted for eight days helped to reduce the anxiety, depression,
and stress levels of the students. The average anxiety level dropped from 5.60 to 5.58 and the

MINDFULNESS: AN EFFECTIVE VEHICLE 3
average stress level reduced from 6.45 to 5.75. The average depression level also reduced
from 5.36 to 5.29,
The study yielded some significant results where the mean/average values of the post
mindfulness tested variables (depression, anxiety, and stress levels) were slightly lower than
the pre-mindfulness variables. These results show that the students achieved better mental
states after undergoing the 8-day long mindfulness intervention program.
Discussion
The main aim of this study was to investigate whether participating in a brief
mindfulness intervention program for eight days would alter depression, anxiety, and stress
levels in university students who were the participants of the study. It was hypothesized that
mindfulness is an important vehicle or tool of reducing stress, anxiety, but not depression in
people, as Gallego et al. (2014) assert. The actual hypotheses that were stated were:
Hypothesis - 1: There is a significant difference between students and control group in levels
of anxiety and stress, but not depression.
Hypothesis 0: There is no significance between students pre and post data for anxiety and
depression, significant reduction in stress
The hypotheses were supported by drawing some arguments from the available literature
which have explored how mindfulness affects anxiety and stress levels. Our study also
supported and reaffirmed the hypothesis as it proved that indeed, mindfulness is a critical tool
or vehicle that can help to reduce the levels of stress and anxiety in people. The average
levels of anxiety and stress of all the students who participated in the brief mindfulness
intervention program dropped significantly after the program and were slightly lower than the
average values of the control group proving that the Hypothesis 1 was actually true. These
results agreed by a study that was done by Warnecke et al. (2009). The level of stress also