Promoting College Student and Staff Well-being Through a Mindfulness-based Coping Program

This study evaluated the impact on student and staff well-being of a mindfulness-based cognitive-behavioral coping program, Be REAL (Resilient Attitudes & Living), delivered by campus staff using a task-sharing approach. The program was adapted for online delivery during COVID19. Study participants included 325 undergraduate students and 100 staff members at a large tri-campus university in the U.S. Participants completed surveys with self-report measures assessing mindfulness, perceptions of stress, emotion regulation, executive control, coping, self-compassion, anxiety, depression, and indicators of well-being including resilience and flourishing. Students also completed measures of social connectedness and happiness, while staff completed measures of work-related burnout and self-efficacy. With students we employed an assessment only control group, and with staff, a waitlist control (WLC) design was used. Feasibility and acceptability measures were obtained. Compared to students in the assessment-only group, students participating in Be REAL showed significant improvements in mindfulness, self-compassion, flourishing, resilience, happiness, emotion regulation problems, executive control, active coping, social connection, depression and anxiety symptoms. These effects were maintained at follow-up. Compared to WLC, staff participating in Be REAL reported improved self-efficacy and reduced anxiety symptoms. This study demonstrated that a mindfulness-based cognitive-behavioral coping enhancement program, Be REAL, delivered online during the pandemic, can improve the well-being and mental health of college students and staff. It further demonstrated feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness through a task-sharing model whereby staff supporting students facilitated the groups, which presents universities with a promising model of cultivating a campus culture of well-being.