Take a breath: A population-oriented prevention approach using mindfulness training to impact college students' sense of coherence, stress levels, and help-seeking intentions

ABSTRACT

Mental health concerns and resource utilization has greatly increased on college campuses in recent years (ACHA - NCHA, 2017, AUCCCD, 2012, Bourdon et al., 2018). Campus counseling centers are concerned about their ability to meet the sheer volume of students with severe mental health concerns though (AUCCCD, 2012). Drum and colleagues (2009) proposed that college campuses should expand their interventions to address the mental health needs for students across the distress continuum. Sense of coherence (SOC), theorized by Aaron Antonovsky (1987), is a protective factor in which students will be better equiped to handle a variety of life stressors through internal and external coping strategies. Previous research suggests that mindfulness training can increase SOC levels in diverse populations (Karlsson et al., 2000, Volanen et al., 2004). The "Take a Breath" study assessed if the online mindfulness intervention, "Headspace," can impact college students' SOC levels, perceived stress, mindfulness skills, and help-seeking intentions. Results indicate that the mindfulness skills and SOC levels influence perceived stress and help-seeking intentions. However, the "Headspace" intervention did not significantly impact the dependent variables in comparison to the control group. The COVID-19 pandemic occurred during data collectino and emphasized the importance of protective factors and mentalh health resource accessibility. Although the results did not indicate "Headspace" to have a significant influence on the variables of interest, college campuses should continue to research accessible mental health resources for students at all levels of distress in light of the recent pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)