Is mindfulness linked to better mental health and lower self-stigma among university students?
Being made to feel different, lesser or unwanted can be a common experience for many minority groups. When people are excluded or denied full social acceptance because they are perceived as having a "lesser" status or value, they may internalize that stigma.
A recent study at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Hong Kong reveals a potential link between mindfulness and improved mental health among university students from minority groups. Researchers found that students who practiced mindfulness tended to report lower levels of self-stigma and fewer depressive symptoms over time.
Self-stigma, an internalized sense of inadequacy and failure, has been linked to deteriorating mental health in minority groups. The study, which followed 194 mainland Chinese university students in Hong Kong over nine to ten months, establishes a directionality of effects, suggesting that mindfulness may influence self-stigma and depressive symptoms rather than vice versa.
The researchers propose that mindfulness could help individuals better cope with stigma by allowing them to choose more skillful responses, thereby improving mental well-being.
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