Exploring the Impact of Different Mindfulness Meditation Interventions on College Students' Resilience: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

A single session of mindfulness meditation quickly lowers blood pressure and shifts heart rate variability toward a more relaxed state in college students under stress. An eight-week standardized mindfulness program further reduces stress-induced blood pressure, improves emotional well-being, and increases mindfulness, with benefits still present twelve weeks later. A sham meditation group also showed emotional and mindfulness improvements, but only the real meditation group had lower blood pressure during stress after training. The findings suggest that brief meditation can calm the body's immediate stress response, while regular practice builds lasting resilience, allowing students to choose different techniques for different stress scenarios.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Resilience helps mitigate the negative impacts of stress and promotes effective adaptation in adverse situations. This study investigated the impact of immediate and standardized mindfulness meditation (MM) on the resilience of college students, aiming to offer adaptable MM practices for different stress scenarios. The blood pressure (BP) and heart rate variability (HRV) of 48 participants were assessed during rest, stress, immediate MM, and repeated stress conditions. They were then randomly distributed into two groups to undergo an 8-week standardized MM intervention (n = 24) or a sham MM intervention (n = 24). Emotional states and mindfulness levels were evaluated at baseline (W0), post-training (W8), and a 12-week follow-up (W20) using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) and the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). HRV and BP were measured under resting and stress conditions after training. Compared to the initial stress condition, immediate MM significantly enhanced normalized high-frequency HRV (nHF), while reducing BP, normalized low-frequency HRV (nLF), and LF/HF. No notable changes in HRV or BP were observed across different stress conditions. After an 8-week intervention, both groups exhibited significant reductions in DASS-21 and enhancements in FFMQ, persisting at follow-up. The standard deviation of the normal-to-normal interval was notably elevated under stress compared to rest in both groups. In the meditation group, stress-induced BP significantly decreased. Immediate MM effectively reduces stress responses, while standardized MM improves resilience and offers sustained benefits, suggesting that college students can select various meditation practices to address different stress scenarios. TRAIL REGISTRATION: The trial was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ref. ChiCTR2300070457).