Mindfulness and Its Impact on Adaptive Coping and Psychological Well-Being: an Intervention for Undergraduate Students
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Old Dominion University ODU Digital Commons Psychology Theses & Dissertations Psychology Summer 8-2020 Mindfulness and Its Impact on Adaptive Coping and Psychological Well-Being: An Intervention for Undergraduate Students Charles Bradley Freligh Old Dominion University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/psychology_etds Part of the Clinical Psychology Commons, Educational Psychology Commons, and the Mental and Social Health Commons Recommended Citation Freligh, Charles B.. "Mindfulness and Its Impact on Adaptive Coping and Psychological Well-Being: An Intervention for Undergraduate Students" (2020). Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Dissertation, Psychology, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25777/cp49-pz13 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/psychology_etds/356 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Psychology at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Psychology Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MINDFULNESS AND ITS IMPACT ON ADAPTIVE COPING AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING: AN INTERVENTION FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS by Charles Bradley Freligh M.A. December 2012, New York University B.S. May 2008, James Madison University A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculties of Eastern Virginia Medical School Norfolk State University Old Dominion University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY VIRGINIA CONSORTIUM PROGRAM IN CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY August 2020 Approved by: Robin J. Lewis (Director) Scott M. Debb (Chair) Barbara A. Winstead (Member) Paul Harrell (Member) Steven Emmanuel (Member) ABSTRACT MINDFULNESS AND ITS IMPACT ON ADAPTIVE COPING AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING: AN INTERVENTION FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS Charles Bradley Freligh Virginia Consortium Program in Clinical Psychology, 2020 Director: Dr. Robin J. Lewis The concept of mindfulness has been shown to positively imPact psychological well-being, and one application of mindfulness-based interventions has been the development and implementation of courses specifically for college students, a population that has been shown to be particularly vulnerable to the negative imPacts of stress. While these interventions have displayed beneficial outcomes, the mechanisms of how mindfulness exerts its impact remain unclear. One potential mechanism of mindfulness’ enhancement of well-being may be through its cultivation of an adaptive coping style in which an individual becomes more likely to approach and investigate stressors rather than avoid them. In this study, an online mindfulness-based intervention for college students was developed and imPlemented. Course participants were assessed before and after the course to investigate the course’s imPact on mindfulness, psychological well-being, and adaptive coping (defined as higher approach coping and lower avoidant coping scores), and to assess the potentially mediating role of adaPtive coPing in the relationship between mindfulness and psychological well-being. Results revealed significant increases in mindfulness and in one domain of Psychological well-being (environmental mastery) following the course but did not reveal significant imProvements in other well-being domains nor significant changes in adaptive coping. Therefore, the planned mediation analysis was not conducted. A post-hoc hierarchical regression analysis revealed significant relationships between mindfulness and adaptive coping in the hyPothesized directions while controlling for ParticiPants’ scores before the course. This may indicate that ParticiPants who develoPed significantly in their caPacity for mindfulness Practice may indeed have demonstrated the impact uPon adaPtive coping hypothesized in this study. Future research should continue to investigate these potential changes and their imPact on the often-stressful lives of college students. iii Copyright, 2020, by Charles Bradley Freligh, All Rights Reserved. iv This dissertation is dedicated to my parents Deborah and Steve Freligh for always supporting me, to my wife Lindsay for being my perfect puzzle piece, and to my brother Jojo for being my best friend. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many who have contributed to the completion of this dissertation. First, I would like to thank my dissertation chair and research mentor Dr. Scott M. Debb. Thank you for your support and willingness to let me explore the path I am most interested in, and for giving me encouragement when I needed it. I would also like to thank my committee members Drs. Barbara A. Winstead, Steven Emmanuel, and Paul Harrel for serving on my committee and helping me with valuable feedback and being generous with their personal time, and kindness, throughout the dissertation process. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................viii LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................ix Chapter I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................1 MINDFULNESS ................................................................................................................2 PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING .................................................................................9 ADAPTIVE COPING .......................................................................................................12 MINDFULNESS TRAINING ..........................................................................................17 COLLEGE STUDENT VULNERABILITY TO STRESS ..............................................24 MINDFULNESS INTERVENTIONS FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS ............................25 RESEARCH AIMS AND HYPOTHESES ......................................................................28 II. METHOD .................................................................................................................................30 PARTICIPANTS ..............................................................................................................30 PROCEDURE ...................................................................................................................32 MEASURES .....................................................................................................................34 III. RESULTS ...............................................................................................................................38 DATA ANALYSIS AND DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS ...............................................38 HYPOTHESES .................................................................................................................40 IV. DISCUSSION .........................................................................................................................46 IMPLICATIONS ..............................................................................................................47 STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS ...............................................................................50 FUTURE DIRECTIONS ..................................................................................................52 V. CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................54 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................55 APPENDICES ..............................................................................................................................71 A. INFORMED CONSENT FORM .................................................................................71 B. DEMOGRAPHIC SURVEY .......................................................................................75 C. THE FIVE FACET MINDFULNESS QUESTIONNAIRE ........................................77 D. THE COPE INVENTORY ..........................................................................................79 E. THE RYFF SCALES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING .................................82 F. THE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE AFFECT SCHEDULE .......................................85 G. THE DEPRESSION ANXIETY AND STRESS SCALES .........................................86 H. COURSE SYLLABUS ................................................................................................87 vii I. STUDENT FEEDBACK/EVALUATION OF THE COURSE ....................................91 VITA .............................................................................................................................................97 viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Demographic characteristics of participant group sample ........................................................31 2. Descriptive statistics for independent and dependent variables ...............................................38 3. Zero-order correlations among study variables pre- and post-intervention ..............................41 4. Hierarchical regression analysis of mindfulness predictors of Time 2 avoidant and approach coping ............................................................................................................................................43 5. Multiple hierarchical regression analysis of FFMQ facet