The use of mindfulness for emotion regulation has led to its adoption as a strategy to manage emotion and mood. Studies on eating behavior have utilized mindfulness exercises for those with eating disorders and Type 2 diabetes and found that mindfulness improves healthy eating habits. This study extends prior work by examining a mindfulness-based eating intervention among college students. Participants were randomly assigned to a weekly 30-minute mindfulness group or relaxation control group for six weeks. Mindfulness exercises ranged from meditations on nonjudgmental self-acceptance to advanced mindfulness procedures utilizing common snack foods. These exercises encouraged the use of mindfulness strategies to help regulate emotional eating, mood, and eating strategies in daily life. Mindful eating participants reported significant decreases in depressive symptoms compared to controls. However, there was no significant differences between mindful eating, anxiety symptoms, and emotional eating in response to stress over time in mindful practicing participants and compared to controls. Results suggest that a mindful eating intervention for a non-clinical sample helps maintain mindful awareness of dietary behavior and decrease depressive symptoms, but has little effect on emotional eating and mindfulness.

Mindfulness involves being present, aware, and non-judgmental. The present study investigates the efficacy of a brief weekly mindfulness intervention within the college classroom as a means of increasing psychological well-being among students. We hypothesized that mindfulness would have emotional, cognitive, and social benefits, and that students who participated more frequently would benefit more. Across six 10-week classes, N=800 university psychology students participated in a five-minute weekly mindfulness activity. Students completed measures of emotional, cognitive, and social functioning in both the first and last weeks as well as some questions specific to the mindfulness activities. We found strong support for our hypotheses for emotional and cognitive benefits. Emotional benefits included increased happiness, resilience, and significantly lower anxiety. Cognitive benefits included engagement in the activities, engagement in the class, being more focused in class, and a positive impact on grades. Students who participated more frequently and to a greater degree saw more positive effects from the intervention. We conclude that a brief mindfulness intervention may be an effective way to improve wellness on the university campus.