Psychology
Mindfulness and College Students
Bridget Grzywacz and Hillary Grgich
Faculty Sponsor: Angela Lowery, Ph.D.
Abstract
Mindfulness is the mental state in which an individual is aware of
the present moment and is conscious and accepting of their
thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations. The purpose of our
study was to investigate the relationship between mindfulness
and depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, addictive
behaviors, religiosity, and technology usage. Currently there are
no studies that examine the relations between these constructs
in college students. Participants were undergraduate students
enrolled in an introductory psychology course at the University of
Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Participants were instructed to
complete questionnaires related to depression, anxiety, addictive
behaviors, religiosity, technology usage, and mindfulness. We
hypothesized that those who were more mindful would have
fewer depression symptoms, fewer anxiety symptoms, fewer
addictive behaviors, higher religiosity, and lower technology
usage.
Method
100 participants enrolled in UWSP introductory psychology
course were recruited by Sona System. Participants were asked to
complete a demographic questionnaire, Mindfulness Attention
Awareness Scale (MAAS), Spielberger Trait Anxiety Inventory
(STAI), Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD),
Technology Usage Questionnaire, and Health Behaviors
Questionnaire.
Results
MAAS
Mean
MAAS
Mean
CESD
Mean
STAI Mean Religion
1b
Female
All Participants
35%
65%
--
Gender
--
--
18.8
Average Age (SD)
1%
African American
7%
Asian American
86%
4%
Caucasian
Latino/a
1%
Native American
1%
Other
Smoking 4 Smoking 7
-
CESD
Mean
-.269**
STAI Mean
-.494** .511**
-
Religion
1b*
-.197*
Alcohol 9*
-.255* .267* .471** -.106
Smoking 4*
.619*
.045
.161
-.036
.434
-
Smoking 7*
-.239*
.097
.077
.146
.108
-.154
.011
.036
** = correlation is significant at the .01 level
* = correlation is significant at the .05 level
Demographics
Male
Alcohol 9
Conclusions
Both depression and anxiety correlated negatively with our
mindfulness measure. This is consistent with findings from
previous studies that have used mindfulness to treat symptoms
(Oman et. al 2008).There was also a negative correlation
between mindfulness and one’s belief in God. It was interesting
that there was a positive correlation for age of starting smoking
and mindfulness. There was a negative correlation between
chewing tobacco and our mindfulness measure. The relation
between technology usage and mindfulness was not significant.
-
Religion 1b: How important is it to you to believe in God?
Alcohol 9: Do your friends ever pressure you to drink or to drink more than you do
now?
Smoking 4: How old were you when you started smoking on a pretty regular basis,
like one or two times a week?
Smoking 7: Have you ever tried chewing tobacco?
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