Evaluation of a mindfulness-based mobile application with college students: A pilot study

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Digital Health
• Mindfulness Interventions

Background:

• College students face significant stress, making accessible mental wellness tools crucial.
• Mindfulness interventions show promise for improving student well-being.
• Digital platforms offer scalable solutions for delivering these interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of The Mindfulness App among university students.
• To assess the effectiveness of daily text message reminders in enhancing adherence to mindfulness practices.
• To explore student perceptions of a digital mindfulness tool and reminder system.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study utilized a pretest-posttest design with 59 university students over 5 weeks.
• Participants engaged with The Mindfulness App and received daily text message reminders for practice.
• Online measures were administered to assess adherence, feasibility, and acceptability.

Main Results:

• Consistent app usage was observed, indicating feasibility.
• Students reported positive attitudes towards the text message reminders and the app's quality.
• The intervention demonstrated high acceptability among the student population.

Conclusions:

• The Mindfulness App is a feasible and well-accepted tool for delivering mindfulness interventions to college students.
• Text message reminders appear to be a useful strategy for improving adherence in digital health interventions.
• This study supports the use of mobile applications for supporting student mental health.