Beyond Individual Stress Reduction—The Mindful Students Program Benefits University Students and Their Environment

Abstract Objectives While mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for university students usually aim at individual stress prevention and reduction, they can also yield benefits in social and environmental domains that extend beyond the individual. We introduce an MBI, the Mindful Students Program (MSP), which aims to develop an ethical perspective of interdependence between the individual and their social and ecological environment. We hypothesized that the MSP fosters not only mindfulness and individual stress reduction but also, in the context of ethical considerations, promotes prosociality and pro-environmental behavior as primary outcomes. Method The MSP was delivered to university students as an elective course within their curriculum. Across three semesters, university students ( n = 203) were surveyed in a pre-post design in comparison to two control groups ( n = 302); one consisting of participants waiting for an online mindfulness-based intervention and a passive control group consisting of participants without any specific interest in mindfulness. Acceptance and adverse effects were also monitored. Results In comparison to the control groups, students receiving the MSP experienced decreases in stress, and increases in mindfulness and pro-environmental behavior. Their levels of prosocial behavior, which were already high at the beginning of the intervention, did not change. Students were highly satisfied with the MSP; adverse events related to meditation were comparatively rare and mostly mild. Conclusions The MSP appears to be an effective and safe means of helping individuals to improve their well-being within the university context, while fostering pro-environmental action which may have ripple effects on society. Preregistration A preregistration and supplementary material is stored on the OSF: https://osf.io/59gtc/ .