Short mindfulness meditation training: does it really reduce perceived stress?

Abstract

To study whether an 8-week mindfulness meditation training program truly reduces perceived stress without designing a stress reduction program. An experimental study was performed in which we studied the efects of 8 weeks of MM training on attention and awareness, as measured by the MAAS (mindfulness attention awareness scale) and perceived stress, as measured by the PSQ (perceived stress questionnaire), in 80 volunteers from the general public recruited by email from university centers. An increase in the individual’s dispositional capacity to be attentive and aware of the experience of the present moment in everyday life was observed in the experimental group versus the control group; F (2, 156)=14.30, p=.000, η2 partial=.155. Perceived stress showed no signifcant diferences between groups in: social acceptance; F (2, 156)=2.30, p=.103, overload; F (2, 156)=2.32, p=.101, irritability, tension and fatigue; F (2, 156)=2.27, p=.106, energy and joy; F (2, 156)=2.79, p=.065. MM practice for 8 weeks of training increases the individual’s dispositional capacity to be attentive and aware of the experience of the present moment in everyday life but may not reduce perceived stress.