142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

303562
Pre and Post Mindfulness of College Students in a Physical Activity and Wellness Course

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014

Michelle D'Abundo, PhD, MSH, CHES , School of Health and Medical Science; Department of Interprofessional Health Sciences and Health Administration, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ
Kelly Fiala, PhD, ATC , Department of Health and Sport Sciences, Salisbury University, Salisbury, MD
Cara Sidman, PhD , School of Health and Applied Human Sciences, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC
Due to its well documented benefits, the practice of mindfulness is being integrated into health promotion programming such as college courses. The purpose of this study was to assess mindfulness of college students before and after taking a physical activity and wellness course. The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), composed of 15 items with response options ranging from 1 (almost always) to 6 (almost never), was completed by students (n=225) before and after the course. A paired sample t-test was used to evaluate whether a difference existed between mean scores of Pre MAAS and Post MAAS. Pre MAAS (3.9 +/- 0.9) were significantly higher than post MAAS (3.8 +/- 1.0) test scores, t(224)=2.784, p=0.006. Although not significant, scores for females decreased from 3.9 to 3.7 (pre to post) while males remained the same at 4.1. Even though students received information and application activities about the mental and spiritual dimensions of wellness, and completed a stress reduction unit including mindfulness, the students did not seem to practice mindfulness on their own. One explanation might be how instructors covered mindfulness. Another explanation might be related to the higher stress levels experienced by students at the end of the semester. These results may support the need to directly educate students about mindfulness. Previous research has shown mindfulness-based programs to be effective in stress reduction and disease management, and therefore it may be advantageous to improve instructor training, increase focus on mindfulness, and monitor course fidelity to assure all content is being covered.

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Chronic disease management and prevention
Other professions or practice related to public health
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Assess pre/post mindfulness levels in college students enrolled in a physical activity and wellness course.

Keyword(s): College Students, Quality of Life

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Qualifications to be a presenter include: planning, implementing and evaluating health promotion programs for 20 years, serving as a researcher for 15 years in this area and teaching public health studies and health education 15 years.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.