Effects of Web-Based Group Mindfulness Training on Stress and Sleep Quality in Singapore During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Course overview

Course Description: This course is based upon material published in the JMIR mental health journal and is available as an open-access article. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted psychological health. Mindfulness training, which helps individuals attend to the present moment with a nonjudgmental attitude, improves sleep and reduces stress during regular times. Mindfulness training may also be relevant to the mitigation of harmful health consequences during acute crises. However, certain restrictions may necessitate the web-based delivery of mindfulness training (ie, rather than in-person group training settings). Objective: The objective of our study was to examine the effects of mindfulness interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic and to evaluate the effectiveness of web-based interventions. Methods: Data from an ongoing study were used for this retrospective equivalence analysis. Recruited participants were enrollees from mindfulness courses at a local charity organization that promoted mental wellness. This study had no exclusion criteria. We created three groups; two groups received their training during the COVID-19 pandemic (in-person training group: n36; videoconferencing group: n38), and a second control group included participants who were trained before the pandemic (n86). Our primary outcomes were self-reported stress and sleep quality. Baseline levels and changes in these variables due to mindfulness training were compared among the groups via an analysis of covariance test and two one-tailed t-tests. Results: Baseline perceived stress (P=.50) and sleep quality (P=.22) did not differ significantly among the three groups. Mindfulness training significantly reduced stress in all three groups (P.001), and this effect was statistically significant when comparing videoconferencing to in-person training (P.002). Sleep quality improved significantly in the pre-pandemic training group (P.001). However, sleep quality did not improve in the groups that received training during the pandemic. Participants reported that they required shorter times to initiate sleep following pre-pandemic mindfulness training (P.001), but this was not true for those who received training during the pandemic. Course attendance was high and equivalent across the videoconferencing and comparison groups (P.02), and participants in the videoconferencing group engaged in marginally more daily practice than the in-person training group. Conclusions: Web-based mindfulness training via videoconferencing may be a useful intervention for reducing stress during times when traditional, in-person training is not feasible. However, it may not be useful for improving sleep quality. This web-based group mindfulness training course is designed for social workers, professional counselors, psychologists, nurses, and substance abuse counselors, who do clinical work. In addition, this course is appropriate for intermediate and advanced level practitioners who wish to develop their knowledge of web-based group mindfulness training The course material includes a literature review of mindfulness It may also be useful for licensed clinicians who require continuing clinical education courses for license renewal. The course is based on a journal article that includes research. It contains statistical analysis and data that some clinicians enjoy reading and others do not. A significant benefit of reading research-based articles for continuing education is they provide practitioners with the latest findings in their field. Authors: Lim, Leow, Ong, Pang, Lim Learning Objectives: This course will provide the practitioner with detailed information regarding web-based group mindfulness training. Specifically, a professional will: Describe how perceived stress and sleep quality is impacted by mindfulness training Recognize how mindfulness impacted sleep quality before and during the pandemic