Published Paper Details:

A pre-experimental study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness meditation in reducing perceived stress among college-going students in a selected nursing college in Gujarat. A 20-item Likert scale was used to assess stress levels before and after a 7-day mindfulness meditation intervention. The majority of respondents were aged 17-18 years (63.3%), predominantly female (76.7%), and mostly from urban areas (56.7%). Half of the students lived either in hostels or at home with family. All participants used mobile phones, with most (76.7%) using them for less than 3 hours daily.Common leisure activities included sleeping (30%), mobile phone use (20%), and reading books (13.3%). Most respondents (76.7%) slept 7-8 hours a day. Stress was previously experienced by 63.3% of students. Popular coping mechanisms were talking with friends or loved ones (36.7%), deep breathing exercises (26.7%), and using social media (20%). Only a few practiced meditation (3.3%), and none consulted a therapist.In the pre-test, 53.3% of students had moderate stress, 43.3% had low stress, and 3.3% had high stress. After the intervention, 76.7% reported low stress and only 23.3% moderate stress, indicating a clear shift toward lower stress levels. The pre-test and post-test mean scores were 27.63 and 21.67, respectively, with a mean difference of 5.96 (7.45% reduction). The paired t-test value of 6.919 (df=29, p<0.001) demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in perceived stress, supporting the research hypothesis (H1). A significant association was also observed between post-test stress levels and current living arrangements. The study suggests that mindfulness meditation is effective, though longer interventions with larger samples are recommended.