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Abstract
Stress and depression levels of school students in recent years are increasing due to many reasons such as individualism, academic competitions etc. However, school mental health counselors relatively use less strategy to assist students in reducing these mental health difficulties. Many studies in other countries have discovered that the positive effects of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) intervention on stress reduction of students, but in Sri Lanka, it is relatively unexplored. Therefore, this study explored the impacts of MBSR intervention on Depression, Perceived Stress, Mindfulness Attention Awareness, and Life Satisfaction. A group of 30 students from Advance Level classes in a school was randomly selected and was given two days of MBSR program per week for continues eight weeks. Data were collected before and after the 8-week intervention of MBSR. Post-intervention levels of depression and stress were significantly lower than pre-intervention levels, whereas mindfulness attention and life satisfaction were at significantly higher levels. These results confirmed that school-based MBSR program could be effective in improving the level of mental health in secondary school students in Sri Lanka. The findings highlight the possibility for stress reduction, and awareness attention training in using MBSR intervention.
Keywords: mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), stress, Sri Lanka
1.1Introduction
Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) intervention, developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979, is being used widely to treat a variety of mental health issues such as stress, depression, pain etc., (Kabat-Zinn, 1998). Mindfulness can be conceptualized as a feature of self-regulation, which is defined as "an awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment" (Kabat-Zinn, 2003, p. 145). The original concept of mindfulness is based on the Buddhist teaching, Vipassana meditation (Anapasathi Bawana). In Buddhist teaching, mindfulness is deliberated as a mental state of awareness about the present moment, with an attitude of lack of judgment. According to Tanay & Bernstein (2013) mindfulness is an important mental state that includes various qualities such as awareness, compassion, careful attention to the present moment, and familiarity to one's subjective experience.
Mindfulness is a 2,500-year-old practice of meditation known as Vipassana, or insight meditation (Goldstein , 1976). This method of meditation has been aimed to encourage better awareness. Theravada tradition of...