Examining stress regulation impacts from integrating mindfulness and self-compassion interventions into doctoral-level leadership courses

Abstract

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to explore mindfulness and self-compassion teachings and practices embedded in a leadership course and their outcome on stress regulation of doctoral-level students.Design/methodology/approachEight valid and reliable pre-and post-assessment inventories were administered prior to the first week of class and following the completion of the doctoral-level class. The test scores were measured for improvement and for differences between various demographic groups.FindingsThe results suggest significant improvement on almost every mindfulness subscale with approximately 5–22% of the variance in subscale scores attributed to participation. Doctoral students over 40 indicated more score improvement than students under 40, and doctoral students of color indicated more significant score increases than White students.Research limitations/implicationsThe research involves doctoral-level students which limits generalizability to other levels of education. Based on the findings, scaling analysis should be conducted on other types of students for generalization purposes.Practical implicationsInstitutions looking to incorporate wellness practices into curriculum can embed these types of practices into their course design.Social implicationsFaculty can become more intentional in how they engage students in mindful compassion skills within their academic programs.Originality/valueThe paper adds a quantitative study into the literature surrounding efficacy of wellness practices in structured curriculum. Institutions looking to provide more resources to students to improve their wellness may find the model useful on their campuses, particularly for students over 40 and students of color.