Digitised mindfulness project : exploring the potential of digital mindfulness for improving the mental health of university students

Mental illnesses are common in Australia, often first emerging in adolescence or early adulthood. University students between 18 to 25 years of age are a particularly vulnerable group, showing higher rates of mental health problems than the public. Many students delay seeking help or do not seek help at all. Mindfulness training has been shown to reduce stress, depression and anxiety, and is popular among students. The delivery of mindfulness interventions in their traditional format through face-to-face or group settings is limited by the availability of adequately experienced therapists and the willingness of people to seek help in these formats. Digital delivery has the potential to be a convenient, cost-effective, easily disseminated and accessible alternative to group-based programs. This work aims to investigate the attitudes and preferences of university students towards seeking help for mental health problems and their attitudes to mindfulness meditation (Study 1). The study also examined the relationship between delivery format and age, mental health and dispositional mindfulness. The second study investigated the effectiveness of a commercially available mindfulness app (Headspace) for improving mental health in university students using a randomised controlled trial methodology. Methods: Study 1 used a cross-sectional online survey, with a convenience sample of undergraduate and postgraduate students from a metropolitan university, of whom 24% were international and 76% were domestic students. Demographic data, interest in learning about mindfulness meditation, preference for delivery format and mental health were measured. A total of 443 students participated in the survey (mean age 24, range 16–61, 72.3% female). Study 2 used a randomised wait-list-controlled (WLC) trial. Enrolled students were randomised to use a mindfulness meditation app (Headspace) for six weeks, and the other half were randomised to a WLC. The key outcome variable was self-reported stress. Results: Study 1 found that a mobile app was preferred by the greatest proportion of respondents to learn mindfulness meditation (n = 202), (53.7%), followed by face-to-face (n = 70), (18.6%), internet (n = 54), (14.4%) and group programs (n = 50), (13.3%). Fifty-one per cent of participants (n = 191) said they used one to five health apps per week, and a mindfulness app (Headspace) was used by 19.4% (n = 37) of students. For Study 2, a total of 311 responses were collected at baseline, with 163 participants completing the study (86 WLC, 77 intervention). Using the Headspace app for six weeks was shown to reduce stress (p < 0.001) and depression (p = 0.0306); and improve sleep quality (p = 0.006) and coping (p = 0.0210), but not reduce anxiety (p = 0.0620) or mindfulness (p = 0.105) compared to the WLC. Effect sizes across all variables were in the small to medium range (0.22 to 0.55). There was no evidence for a dose–response relationship. Conclusions: Students show a preference for digital delivery of mindfulness training. The current study provides preliminary support for mindfulness delivered via a mobile app to bring about improvements in mental health in university students. Future research is required to examine whether these beneficial effects are sustained over a longer period and whether these benefits are present when comparing mindfulness apps to active controls. A greater understanding of the relationship between how much practice is needed for mental health improvements to emerge (i.e., the dose–response relationship) is also an area of great interest. A simple, commercial app should be recommended for use in university populations