Efficacy of a single session mindfulness based intervention: A randomized clinical trial

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Mental Health Interventions

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated issues like loneliness, stress, depression, and anxiety.
• Traditional mindfulness and compassion interventions are effective but often time-intensive, limiting accessibility.
• Single-session interventions (SSIs) present a scalable and accessible alternative for mental health support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a novel, manualized, mindfulness-based single-session intervention (SSI).
• To assess the efficacy of a one-hour telehealth intervention combining mindfulness and compassion.

Main Methods:

• A pre-registered randomized clinical trial involving 91 adults.
• Participants were assigned to a mindfulness-only SSI, a mindfulness and compassion SSI, or a waitlist control group.
• Outcomes measured included self-reported loneliness, perceived stress, depression, and anxiety via Bayesian multilevel models.

Main Results:

• The mindfulness and compassion SSI significantly reduced perceived stress, anxiety, and depression compared to the waitlist control.
• No significant reduction in loneliness was observed at the 1-week follow-up.
• Effect sizes for stress, anxiety, and depression reductions were meaningful.

Conclusions:

• A single-session mindfulness and compassion intervention shows promise for reducing stress, anxiety, and depression.
• This SSI model offers a more accessible and scalable approach to mental health support.
• Further research is needed to explore its impact on loneliness and long-term outcomes.