Meditation lowers stress and supports forgiveness among college students: a randomized controlled trial.
OBJECTIVE
The authors evaluated the effects on stress, rumination, forgiveness, and hope of two 8-week, 90-min/wk training programs for college undergraduates in meditation-based stress-management tools.


METHODS
After a pretest, the authors randomly allocated college undergraduates to training in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR; n = 15), Easwaran's Eight-Point Program (EPP; n = 14), or wait-list control (n = 15). The authors gathered pretest, posttest, and 8-week follow-up data on self-report outcome measures.


RESULTS
The authors observed no post-treatment differences between MBSR and EPP or between posttest and 8-week follow-up (p > .10). Compared with controls, treated participants (n = 29) demonstrated significant benefits for stress (p < .05, Cohen's d = -.45) and forgiveness (p < .05, d = .34) and marginal benefits for rumination (p < .10, d = -.34).


CONCLUSIONS
Evidence suggests that meditation-based stress-management practices reduce stress and enhance forgiveness among college undergraduates. Such programs merit further study as potential health-promotion tools for college populations.
Oman
Doug
D
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-7360, USA. dougoman@post.harvard.edu
Shapiro
Shauna L
SL
Thoresen
Carl E
CE
Plante
Thomas G
TG
Flinders
Tim
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy*