The development and evaluation of a mindfulness-based stress reduction programme for young adult females
Abstract
Young adult women from the middle and higher socio-economic classes in South Africa are playing an increasingly important role in society at all levels. At the same time, they face demanding challenges, for example gender issues, work–life balance and gender-related health concerns, which may jeopardize not only their own well-being, but also that of their families and the country in general. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) programmes have increasingly emerged as a popular approach to prevent and manage stress. Although MBSR programmes have been proven effective in addressing stress, anxiety and depression-related problems, most research has been done in the USA and Europe. As a result, there is a need to develop and evaluate MBSR programmes specifically for young adult South African females in the emerging middle and upper socio-economic classes.
The general aim of this study was to explore the nature of stress and mindfulness in young adult females and to develop and evaluate an MBSR programme based on the perceptions, experiences and needs of young adult South African females. The study is presented in the form of three independent, but related articles, each addressing one aspect of the study’s aims. The first article presents a literature review on national and international perspectives on stress and mindfulness in young adult females. The second article reports on the use of Interactive Qualitative Analysis to develop a hypothetical model of participants’ subjective stress experience. The third article details the application of a multi-method pre-test post-test intervention design to measure the impact of a self-developed MBSR programme on perceived stress and mindfulness levels.
From the literature review it was concluded that young adult females often find it difficult to cope with challenges and as a result experience distress that may impact negatively on their wellbeing. As typical stress management approaches often neglect preventive and promotive aspects, a strong argument is provided for using an MBSR approach as it has been shown to be effective not only in decreasing stress, but also in facilitating resourceful and proactive coping abilities through three change mechanisms. A hypothetical model of participants’ perceptions of stress, mindfulness and wellbeing in their daily lives clearly shows how mindfulness influences stress, relationships and health in a dynamic, unfolding process. This finding was used to develop and evaluate a programme appropriate for young adult South African females. Findings show that the programme was effective for stress and two components of mindfulness, namely awareness and non-judgement, confirming previous research on the effectiveness of MBSR.
The study concludes that an MBSR programme for young adult South African females proved to be effective in the short term regarding this group of participants’ stress, awareness and judgement, and that even though there were some limitations, the study made a valuable contribution to the available knowledge about young adult females’ experience of stress, mindfulness and wellbeing
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