The effects of in-class meditation practice on self-reported dispositional mindfulness of university students

Background: Integrating mindfulness practices into university settings can enhance a holistic approach to education and promote students' overall well-being by fostering personal development alongside academic success. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of meditation practices on students' perceived mindfulness abilities. Methods: This quasi-experimental study employed quantitative pre- and post-test measures. The sample included 74 first-year sport sciences students (female = 12, male = 62, age: 19,.32 ± 1,.62 years) divide into experimental and control groups. The Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM) and the Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire-Short Form (FFMQ) were implemented before and after the intervention in both groups. The experimental group participated in daily mindful challenges and in 5-minutes mindfulness practices during the last part of 24 classes of Psychology of Sport Sciences. A Mann-Whitney U test was carried out and the Wilcoxon test was used to verify the intragroup effect of the intervention. Results: The experimental group improved in the CAMM and in 3 out of the 5 dimensions of the FFMQ, being these differences significant for the dimension "describe". However, no significant differences were observed between the groups after the intervention. Conclusions: brief practices of mindfulness framed within the university schedule enhances the students' perceived ability to be aware of their thoughts, feelings and emotions, which may help them in enhancing their mental well-being. This first approach highlights the necessity for additional robust research that could extend the integration of mindfulness to other subjects and related degrees or applied in any academic studies in the form of brain-breaks.