Description

Method/Design. This study will be a remote, two-arm, randomized, controlled trial. First-generation college students (N=53) will be randomized to either mindfulness meditation (MM), or psychoeducation (PE). The mindfulness meditation will be a loving kindness meditation adapted to apply to college communities. Each intervention will be applied for 30 minutes, once a week, for four weeks through a remote platform. The MM is adapted through a validated brief mindfulness-based intervention framework (Zeidan, 2010). The primary outcome, intention to persist in college, and the secondary outcomes, depression and anxiety, will be assessed by a blinded researcher at baseline, one-week post treatment, and one-month follow-up. Change in sense of connection during the final treatment session, measured with a comprehensive battery of self-report indices, will be the primary therapeutic mechanism.

Aims and Objectives. The proposed project's central hypothesis is that MM will increase first-generation students' intention to persist in college and increase their emotional well-being by increasing their sense of belonging in their college community. Aim 1. Examine MM's effect on first-generation college students' intention to persist in college (primary outcome) over time. Hypothesis: Participants who are randomized into the MM group will report higher intention to persist scores from baseline to one-month follow-up than those who are randomized to PE. Aim 2.

Exploratory. Determine MM's effect on anxiety and depression scores (co-secondary outcomes) over time. Hypothesis: MM will decrease depression and anxiety relative to PE from baseline to one-month follow-up. Aim 3: Exploratory. Investigate whether transcendent states during the final MM session predicts students' intention to persist scores. Hypothesis: The effect of MM on students' intention to persist will be mediated by self-transcendent experience during mindfulness practice.