Mechanisms of mindfulness: A longitudinal observational study of the effects of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on depression, anxiety, and stress among participants in a MBSR program

The intervention was an 8-week Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) course conducted by Openground Training. The course involved mindfulness meditation and body awareness training via 2.5-hour group classes conducted weekly. Participants for the study were recruited after enrollment in the course, such that students could attend the course irrespective of their decision to participate in the study. As such, this was an observational study of MBSR course enrollees. Questionnaires were completed by participants at four time points: (1) before commencing the course; (2) mid-course, following attendance in week four; (3) end-of-course, following attendance in week eight; and (4) three months after course completion (approximately 20 weeks in total). These questionnaires were the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), the Toronto Mindfulness Scale-Trait Version (TMS-T), the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), and the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale - Short Form (DASS-21). The questionnaire responses were initially collected in pen and paper format, but following the first term of groups, procedures were changed to an online survey in order to streamline the data collection. Questionnaires would take approximately 15-30 minutes to complete.