The Effects of Online Group Mindfulness Training on Stress and Sleep Quality during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Singapore: a Retrospective Equivalence Trial

Lim, Julian; Leow, Zaven; Ong, Jason C.; Pang, Ly-Shan; Lim, Eric

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3629960

Cited by 13 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…As far as is known, there have only been two intervention studies that studied the effect of MBI programs during the COVID-19 pandemic (Lim et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2021). The first (Lim et al, 2020) compared an online-MBSR FIGURE 3 | Changes in outcomes across the three time points for state anxiety, emotion regulation, and intolerance of uncertainty. For all measures, no effect of time was observed for the control group.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Increases Mental Wellbeing and Emotion Regulation During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Synchronous Online Intervention Study

et al. 2021

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The COVID-19 pandemic imposed extreme living conditions of social distancing, which triggered negative mental health problems and created challenges in seeking mental health support. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been found to enhance wellbeing and mental health by reducing stress and anxiety and improving emotion regulation. Preliminary evidence suggests that online, synchronous MBIs may produce beneficial effects similar to face-to-face programs. However, the effectiveness of such online-MBIs to support mental health in highly stressful times, such as a global pandemic, requires further study. To this end, we investigated the effect of an online 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program on aspects of mental health during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants (N=92) who expressed interest in discounted online-MBSR programs were recruited for the study. The division into experimental and control groups was based on actual enrollment to the courses. Those who enrolled in a program were assigned to the experimental condition and those who decided not to enroll served as controls. Participants were assessed pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 1-month post-intervention for levels of mindfulness, perceived stress, anxiety, emotion regulation, and intolerance of uncertainty. Differences between the groups were tested using the general linear mixed effects model (GLMM) and Individual Growth Curve Models (IGCM) in intent to treat analysis. The findings indicated that, relative to the control group, MBSR improved mindfulness abilities (p <0.001), decreased anxiety (p <0.001), and stress (p <0.001) and increased emotion regulation (p <0.001). These effects were found to persist 1 month after the end of the program, despite the increased governmental public-health restrictions due to COVID-19 at that time. The ability to tolerate uncertainty, a central characteristic of the pandemic, was not found to be affected by the program. A mediation analysis revealed that the effect of the intervention on mental health improvement was partially mediated by the improvement in emotion regulation. Overall, the findings provide positive evidence for the feasibility of an online-MBSR program to support the mental health of individuals from the general population through the mediation of emotion regulation in challenging times, such as a global pandemic.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To date, only two MBIs studies have been conducted during COVID-19. The first ( Lim et al, 2020 ) investigated an online synchronous MBSR course compared to a face-to-face MBSR course conducted during the pandemic. The results reported positive effects in reducing stress but not in the improvement of sleep quality for both groups.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Increases Mental Wellbeing and Emotion Regulation During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Synchronous Online Intervention Study

et al. 2021

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“…Moreover, digital CBT for insomnia treatment that was received before the pandemic, increased health resilience during the actual COVID-19 pandemic in adults with a history of insomnia and ongoing mild to moderate mental health symptoms [ 83 ]. Another study showed that online mindfulness training via videoconferencing may be a useful intervention for stress reduction, but not sleep improvement during times when traditional in-person training is not feasible [ 84 ]. Finally, a recent metanalysis showed that non-pharmacological interventions (e.g., muscle relaxation, respiratory muscle-related rehabilitation, online psychotherapy) can improve the sleep status of COVID-19 patients [ 85 ].…”

Section: - Potential Interventionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Circadian disturbances, sleep difficulties and the COVID-19 pandemic

et al. 2022

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The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed extraordinary and unpredictable changes on our lifestyle for an unknown duration. Consequently, core aspects of wellbeing including behavior, emotion, cognition, and social interactions are negatively affected. Sleep and circadian rhythms, with an extensive impact on physiology, behavior, emotion, and cognition are inevitably affected too. We provided an updated overview of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on circadian rhythms and sleep based on the results of published studies ( n =48) in three sections. First, we focus on circadian misalignment due to the pandemic in the general population (including shift workers, health staff, students) and COVID-19 patients and summarize the most critically contributing factors to circadian misalignment. Next, we address sleep difficulties and poor sleep quality during the pandemic, their contributing factors, rate and prevalence, and their effects on both the general population and COVID-19 patients. Finally, we summarize the currently applied/recommended interventions for aligning circadian rhythms and improving sleep quality in both, the general population, and COVID-19 patients during the pandemic situation. Briefly, circadian misalignment and sleep difficulties are common consequences of the pandemic in the general population (with elderly, students, children, health and night-work shifters as risk groups) and COVID-19 patients. Home confinement and its physiological, circadian, and psychological derivates are central to these difficulties. Symptoms severity, treatment progress, recovery duration, and even diagnosis of COVID-19 patients are considerably affected by circadian and sleep difficulties. Behavioral interventions for normalizing the factors that contribute to circadian and sleep difficulties are helpful and recommended.

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“…[1] , [2] , [3] , [4] , [5] , [6] , [7] , [8] , [9] , [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] , [14] , [15] , [16] , [17] , [18] , [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] , [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] , [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , [37] , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , [42] , [43] , [44] .…”

Section: Uncited Referencesunclassified

Sleep during COVID-19 lockdown: A cross-cultural study investigating job system relevance

Florea

Topalidis

Hauser

et al. 2021

Biochemical Pharmacology

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The Effects of Online Group Mindfulness Training on Stress and Sleep Quality during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Singapore: a Retrospective Equivalence Trial

Cited by 13 publications

References 24 publications

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Increases Mental Wellbeing and Emotion Regulation During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Synchronous Online Intervention Study

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Increases Mental Wellbeing and Emotion Regulation During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Synchronous Online Intervention Study

Circadian disturbances, sleep difficulties and the COVID-19 pandemic

Sleep during COVID-19 lockdown: A cross-cultural study investigating job system relevance

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