Effects of Mindfulness-Based Tibetan Dance on College Students’ Resilience: The Mediating Roles of Mindful Attention Awareness and Perceived Stress

Abstract Background College students face multiple challenges, including academic pressure, employment anxiety, and interpersonal difficulties, and their resilience has been declining. Strengthening resilience is therefore crucial for college students’ comprehensive development. Tibetan dance, through its steady, restrained, and well-balanced bodily rhythms, embodies the cultural spirit of moderation, resilience, and harmony, reflecting the mindfulness traits of acceptance, non-judgment, and present-moment awareness. This study examined the effects of Tibetan dance on college students’ resilience and the mediating roles of mindful attention awareness and perceived stress. Methods A 2 (group: Tibetan dance vs. aerobics control) × 2 (time: pretest vs. posttest) mixed design was used. In total, 208 female college students were randomly assigned and received a 15-week intervention (once weekly, 90 min/session); 202 valid participants remained. Resilience, mindful attention awareness, and perceived stress were measured pre- and post-intervention. Repeated-measures ANOVA, AMOS structural equation modeling, and bootstrap serial mediation analyses (5,000 resamples, bias-corrected 95% CIs) were conducted. Results The group × time interaction effects were significant for total resilience scores, mindful attention awareness, and total perceived stress scores (p < 0.001). At posttest, the Tibetan dance group had higher resilience and mindful attention awareness and lower perceived stress than the control group. Mediation analysis showed that the total effect of Tibetan dance on resilience was 0.523; the separate mediating effect of mindful attention awareness was 0.170, accounting for 32.5% of the total effect; the separate mediating effect of perceived stress was 0.123, accounting for 23.5% of the total effect. Conclusions Tibetan dance significantly enhanced college students’ resilience, increased their mindful attention awareness, and reduced their perceived stress. Both mindful attention awareness and perceived stress mediated the relationship between Tibetan dance and resilience, and Tibetan dance was also directly associated with resilience. Thus, Tibetan dance not only directly promoted resilience but also exerted indirect effects by enhancing mindful attention awareness and reducing perceived stress.