Impact of Mindfulness Meditation and Physical Activity on Stress Levels in University Students

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the impact of mindfulness meditation and physical activity on perceived stress levels among university students using a true experimental design. Fifty participants (aged 18–25) were randomly assigned to three groups: mindfulness meditation (n = 15), physical activity (n = 15), and control (n = 20). Stress was measured using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) before and after a four-week intervention. Guided by Lazarus and Folkman's

Transactional Model of Stress and Coping (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984), the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) model (Kabat-Zinn, 1990), and the Endorphin Hypothesis (Meeusen & De Meirleir, 1995), the study employed a true experimental pre-test post-test control group design. Statistical analyses including paired sample t-tests, independent sample t-tests, and one-way ANOVA revealed no statistically significant differences in stress levels across groups (p > .05), with small effect sizes across all comparisons (η² = .011–.028; d = .068–.209). Although the mindfulness group showed a directional reduction in stress scores, findings suggest that a four-week intervention window may be insufficient to produce measurable change. The study was also constrained by a small sample size, low scale reliability in subgroups, and the absence of compliance monitoring—factors that collectively limited statistical power. These findings highlight the urgent need for longer, better-controlled interventions and offer practical insights for evidence-based campus mental health programming in resource-limited academic settings.

Keywords: mindfulness meditation, physical activity, perceived stress, university students, experimental design