Knowledge, Attitudes and Beliefs of Meditation in College Students: Barriers and Opportunities

Peter Gryffin^1, , William Chen² and Naz Erenguc²

¹University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, Health Promotion and Human Development, Stevens Point, WI

²University of Florida, Health and Human Performance, Florida Gym, Stadium Road, Gainesville, FL

Cite this paper:
Peter Gryffin, William Chen and Naz Erenguc. Knowledge, Attitudes and Beliefs of Meditation in College Students: Barriers and Opportunities. American Journal of Educational Research. 2014; 2(4):189-192. doi: 10.12691/education-2-4-2

Abstract

College students have a high burden of stress resulting from balancing college life, academic studies, work, and family. Meditation has been shown to be an effective coping tool for dealing with stress. Current uses of meditation and mindfulness to enhance college student success is also presented. Studies regarding various benefits of meditation have addressed the need for understanding barriers to meditation. To determine barriers and opportunities for meditation and related practices, a Knowledge, Attitudes and Beliefs (KAB) survey was conducted to determine student perceptions regarding the use of meditation in a college population. The constructs of the Health Belief Model (HBM) were utilized to categorize student responses. Opportunities for promoting meditation are presented, including increase mindfulness, better sleep quality, enhanced forgiveness, reduced mood disturbance, increased GPA, and increased awareness and stopping of incessant and destructive thoughts. Ignorance of the benefits of meditative practices were identified as the primary barrier

Keywords:
college students college success meditation mindfulness stress stress reduction

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Caldwell, K., Harrison, M., Adams, M., Quin, R., andGreeson, J. Developing Mindfulness in College Students though Movement Based Courses: Effects on Self-Regulatory Self Efficacy, Mood, Stress, and Sleep Quality. Journal of American College Health. 2010; 58(5): 433-442.
[2]	Oman, D., Shapiro, S., Thoresen, C., Plante, T., and Flinders, T. Meditation Lowers Stress and Supports Forgiveness Among College Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of American College Health. 2008; 56(5): 569-578.
[3]	Deckro GR, Ballinger KM, Hoyt M, Wilcher M, Dusek J, Myers P, Greenberg B, Rosenthal DS, Benson H. The evaluation of a mind/body intervention to reduce psychological distress and perceived stress in college students. Journal of American College Health. 2002; 50(6): 281-287.
[4]	Rosenzweig, S., Reibel, D., Greeson, J., and Brainard, G. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Lowers Psychological Distress in Medical Students. Teaching and Learning in Medicine. 2003; 15(2):88-92.
[5]	Hall, P. The Effect of Mediation on the Academic Performance of African American College Students. Journal of Black Studies. 1999; 29(3): 408-415.
[6]	Shapiro, S., Schwarts, G., and Bonner, G. Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on Medical and Premedical Students. Journal of Behavioral Medicine. 1998; 21(6), 581-599.
[7]	Germer, C.K., Siegel, R.D., & Fulton, P.R. Mindfulness and Psychotherapy. New York: The Guilford Press; 2005.
[8]	Gross, C.R., Kreitzer, M.J., Thomas, W., Reilly-Spong, M., Cramer-Bornemann, M., Nyman, J.A., Frazier, P., &Ibrrahim, H.N. Mindfulness-based stress reduction for solid organ transplant recipients: a randomized control trial. Alternative Therapies. 2010; 16(5):30-38.
[9]	Smith, B.W., Shelley, B.M., Dalen, J., Wiggins, K., Tooley, E., & Bernard, J. A pilot study comparing the effects of mindfulness-based and cognitive-behavioral stress reduction. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2008; 14(3): 251-258.
[10]	Misra, R., Castillo, L.G. Academic stress among college students: Comparison of Americans and international students. International Journal of Stress Management. 2004; 11(2):132-148.
[11]	Champion, V. L., Skinner, C. S. The Health Belief Model. In Health Behavior and Health Education: Theories, Research, and Practice. K. Glanz, Rimer, B.K., Viswanath, K. (Eds.) San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass; 2008.
[12]	Kabat-Zinn, J.Wherever you go there you are: mindfulness meditation in everyday life. New York: Hyperion; 1994.
[13]	Brazier, D. Zen therapy. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc;1995.
[14]	LaFargue, M. The Tao of the Tao Te Ching. New York: State University of New York Press; 1992.
[15]	Milroy, P. & O’Neil, G. Factors affecting compliance to chiropractic prescribed home exercise: a review of the literature. Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association. 2000; 44(3):141-148.
[16]	Leggett, T. Zen and the ways. Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company; 1987.