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Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth

Date Submitted: Apr 4, 2019
Open Peer Review Period: Apr 5, 2019 - Apr 12, 2019
Date Accepted: Jun 9, 2019
(closed for review but you can still tweet)

The final, peer-reviewed published version of this preprint can be found here:

Efficacy of the Mindfulness Meditation Mobile App “Calm” to Reduce Stress Among College Students: Randomized Controlled Trial

Huberty J, Green J, Glissmann C, Larkey L, Puzia M, Lee C

Efficacy of the Mindfulness Meditation Mobile App “Calm” to Reduce Stress Among College Students: Randomized Controlled Trial

JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2019;7(6):e14273

DOI: 10.2196/14273

PMID: 31237569

PMCID: 6614998

Testing the efficacy of a mindfulness meditation mobile app, Calm, to reduce stress among college students: A randomized controlled trial

  • Jennifer Huberty; 
  • Jeni Green; 
  • Christine Glissmann; 
  • Linda Larkey; 
  • Megan Puzia; 
  • Chong Lee

ABSTRACT

Background:

College students experience high levels of stress. Mindfulness meditation delivered via a mobile application (app) may be an appealing, efficacious way to reduce stress in college students.

Objective:

To test the initial efficacy and sustained effects of an 8-week mindfulness meditation mobile-app (i.e., Calm) compared to a wait-list control on stress, mindfulness, and self-compassion in college students with elevated stress. We also explored the intervention’s effect on health behaviors (i.e., sleep disturbance, alcohol consumption (i.e., binge drinking), physical activity, healthy eating (i.e.,fruit and vegetable consumption) and examined the feasibility and acceptability.

Methods:

This study was a randomized, wait-list control trial with assessments at baseline, post-intervention (8-weeks) and follow-up (12-weeks). Participants were eligible if they were current full-time undergraduate students and 1) at least 18 years of age, 2) scored ≥14 on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), 3) owned a smartphone, 4) willing to download the Calm app, 5) willing to be randomized and 7) able to read and understand English. Participants were asked to meditate using Calm at least 10 minutes per day. A p-value of ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results:

Eighty-eight participants were included in the analysis. The mean age (SD), for the intervention group was 20.41 (2.31) years and 21.85 (6.3) years for the control group. There were significant differences in all outcomes (stress, mindfulness, and self-compassion) between intervention and control groups after adjustment for covariates (all P<0.04) at post-intervention. These effects persisted at follow-up (all P<0.03), except for the non-reacting subscale of mindfuless (p = 0.079). There was a significant interaction between group and time factor in perceived stress (p = 0.002), mindfulness (p<0.001), and self-compassion (p<0.001). Bonferroni post-hoc tests showed significant within-group mean differences for perceived stress in the intervention group (p<0.001), while there were no significant within-group mean differences in the control group (all p>0.19). Similar results were found for mindfulness and self-compassion. Effect sizes ranged from moderate (0.59) to large (1.24) across all outcomes. A significant group x time interaction in models of sleep disturbance was found but no significant effects were found on other health behaviors. The majority of students in the intervention group reported Calm was helpful to reduce stress and stated they would use Calm in the future. The majority was satisfied with using Calm and likely to recommend Calm to other college students. Participation in meditation for the intervention group averaged 38 minutes/week during the intervention and 20 minutes/week at follow-up.

Conclusions:

Calm is an effective modality to deliver mindfulness meditation to reduce stress and improve mindfulness and self-compassion in stressed college students. The findings presented here provide important information that can be applied to the design of future studies or mental health resources in university programs. Clinical Trial: clinicaltrials.gov, NCT03891810; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03891810?term=calm+college&rank=1 (archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/77MgrQjDj


 Citation

Please cite as:

Huberty J, Green J, Glissmann C, Larkey L, Puzia M, Lee C

Efficacy of the Mindfulness Meditation Mobile App “Calm” to Reduce Stress Among College Students: Randomized Controlled Trial

JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2019;7(6):e14273

DOI: 10.2196/14273

PMID: 31237569

PMCID: 6614998

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