Part 2: You will write a critical review that synthesizes your reactions to the two articles. Your paper must be APA style (e.g., title page, no abstract, double-spaced, reference page). The paper sho
Article No 1
The Impact of Mindfulness-Based Interventions on Anxiety Levels in College Students
Abstract:
This research paper was an exploration of how an eight-week mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) influenced the levels of anxiety in students of a college. A study was conducted using a pretest-posttest control group design involving 60 undergraduate students randomly selected for the intervention or the waitlist control group. The intervention group took part in weekly facilitated mindfulness and daily mindfulness journaling. The Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7) was used to measure anxiety. Results showed that there was a major drop in anxiety levels among the participating students of the intervention group and controls. These findings furnish the effectiveness of mindfulness as a pill-free treatment of anxiety among students.
Introduction:
College students have increasingly reported high levels of anxiety, academic stress, social pressure, and transitional challenges as contributing factors to poor mental health. Mindfulness intervention has become a common practice that minimizes anxiety because it is relatively inexpensive and easily applied. According to previous research, mindfulness supports the accurate control of emotional reactions and encourages the feeling of being aware of the present. The research would help to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) in lowering the anxiety rates among students that get undergraduate education.
Research Question/Hypothesis:
Does the subject of a mindfulness-based intervention achieve significantly lower levels of anxiety than those that are assigned to the control group as college students?
Method:
Sample: Undergraduates (Australian) aged 18-24 of a particular university (not specified) were recruited and filtered on a mild/moderate anxiety screen.
Outcome: Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale, which will be used twice: before and after the intervention.
Procedure: On a random basis, participants have been put into an MBI group (n=30) and a control group (n=30). The MBI group received weekly 60-minute mindfulness exercises and turned in their daily reflection journals during 8 weeks.
Results:
The independent samples t-tests indicated that the intervention group reduced the GAD-7 scores by a statistically significant effect (M=8.2 to M=4.6, p < .001), yet there was no significant change in the scores of the control group. There was a strong treatment effect as measured by the effect size of Cohen's d = 0.78.
Discussion and Conclusion
The results imply that MBIs may serve as a tool of successful anxiety lowering in college students. The interventions are cheap and can be used as group delivery or virtual interventions and thus can be accessible by a student population.
Limitations:
The generalizability is limited by the small sample.
The sample was self-selected, and this may have an element of bias.
No measurements of long-term effects were done.
The intervention fidelity was not cross-checked.
The findings depend on self-reports, which are biased.
Article No 2
The Effectiveness of Online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Reducing Academic Stress Among University Students
Abstract:
This research assessed the effect of an online Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) module on academic stress levels among university students. Eighty students with moderate to high levels of stress were randomly divided into a group for an online CBTI intervention or a waitlist control group. The intervention group also went through structured modules of CBT in stress management and reframing over a period of more than six weeks. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was utilized to measure the level of stress. The findings showed that stress levels significantly dropped in the intervention group, which in turn has shown that online CBT is a potential way of relieving academic stress in a university setting.
Introduction:
Academic stress levels are very high amongst university students and cause serious problems such as burnout, anxiety, and reduced performance. CBT has become one of the best empirically based treatments of stress and anxiety, and face-to-face therapy is not readily available to most of the students. Internet-based CBT has turned out to be a very viable and scalable method. This research aims to determine how online modules of CBT could help reduce the academic stress in college students.
Research Question/Hypothesis:
Does taking part in CBT modules online lead to a high decrease in perceived academic stress levels among university students when compared to a control condition?
Method:
Sample: 80 undergraduate (18-25 years old) students of two universities with a negative score in PSS 20 or higher.
Measure: Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), at baseline and follow-up.
Procedure: Each of the forty patients was randomly selected into one of two groups: the online CBT group (n=40) and the waitlist control group (n=40). The CBT group achieved six successive online sessions on themes like thought records, time management, and relaxation exercises that were completed weekly.
Results:
Repeated measures ANOVA indicated the very significant group and time interaction (p < .001). The mean PSS scores of the CBT group dropped by 8.2 points (24.3-16.1), and the controls did not show any change. The strength of the effect was free of ambiguities, as a strong effect (index of effect size, 122 0.31) was reported.
Discussion and Conclusion:
CBT on the internet is one feasible, though efficient, intervention with regard to the reduction of academic stress. Higher educational institutions ought to think of incorporating such provisions into student wellness. Digital CBT broadens mental health access to the students who have time or geographical constraints.
Limitations:
The sample will not represent the severely stressed students or those with psychiatric disorders.
It is also possible that the adherence will vary with self-paced modules.
The observation of long-lasting outcomes is limited by the short time (6 weeks).
A follow-up assessment was not carried out in the study.
Insufficient qualitative data: the experience of the users.
