A Mindfulness-based Intervention to Reduce Stress and Improve Prosocial Skills for Health-care Students

A Mindfulness-based Intervention to Reduce Stress and Improve Prosocial Skills for Health-care Students : a Translational RCT Integrating Clinical, Neuroimaging and Biomedical Outcomes

We aim to study the clinical immediate and long-term efficacy of a web-delivered MBCT-L protocol targeting bachelor and master health-care students in Geneva, as well as to study the correlations of clinical, neuroimaging and biomedical effects of such an intervention.

Primary objective: To evaluate the immediate and long-term effect of MBCT-L on reducing perceived stress and improving pro-social skills for health-care students, compared to a control group.

Secondary objective: To evaluate the immediate and long-term effect of MBCT-L on trait mindfulness, compassion, global psychological well-being, sleep quality, anxiety, depression, satisfaction in studies and resilience, to broaden the clinical understanding of the impact of such an intervention.

This study is led jointly by Prof. C. Nemitz-Piguet, Dr F. Jermann, and Prof. S. Rudaz, who serve as co-principal investigators.

This study is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant number: 32003B_205111 / 1)

Inclusion Criteria:

• Eligibility criteria were applied to recruit second, third- or fourth-year health students in Geneva, Switzerland, who were at least 18 years old, had some interest in mindfulness, were available for the duration of the study, and agreed on refraining from regular mindfulness practice until allocated to the MBCT-L group.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Students were excluded if they had a current depressive episode, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychotic disorder, or substance dependency as identified through the Mini international Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). All participants received oral and written information about the trial and signed the informed consent form prior to the beginning of the study.