Meditation lowers stress and supports forgiveness among college students: A randomized controlled trial

Objective and Participants: The authors evaluated the effects on stress. rumination. forgiveness, and hope of two 8-week. 90-min/wk training programs for college undergraduates in meditation-based stress-management tools. Methods: After a pretest. the authors randomly allocated college undergraduated to training in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR; n = 15). Easwaran's Eight-Point Program (EPP: n = 14), or wait-list control (n = 15). The authors Lathered pretest. posttest. and 8-week follow-up data on self-report outcome measures. Results: The authors observed no post-treatment differences between MBSR and EPP or between posttest and 8-week follow-up (p > .10). Compared with controls. treated participant (n = 29) demonstrated significant benefits for stress (p < .05. Cohen's d = -.4s) and forgiveness (p < .05. d = .34) and marginal benefits for rumination (p < .10 d = -.34). Conclusions: Evidence that meditation-based stress-management practices reduce stress and enhance forgiveness among college undergraduates. Such programs merit further study as Potential health-promotion tools for college populations.