How Adolescents Used Mindfulness When Facing Exams: Semi-Structured Interviews

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an 8-week program that teaches mindfulness meditation and yoga to help individuals manage stress, anxiety, and pain.

Participants learn to focus on present-moment experiences non-judgmentally. Benefits include reduced stress, improved emotional regulation, and enhanced well-being.

MBSR is suitable for various populations, including those with chronic pain, anxiety disorders, and individuals seeking stress management skills in personal or professional contexts.

Dundas, I., & Binder, P. E. (2024). Being able to think when caught in the maelstrom-how adolescents used mindfulness when facing exams. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 19(1), 2375660. https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2024.2375660

Key Points

1. Adolescent high school students applied mindfulness techniques learned from an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course to manage anxiety related to academic performance and exams.
2. The primary methods of coping with exam anxiety included attending to breath sensations, noticing and acknowledging anxious thoughts, redirecting attention from worries to academic tasks, and making conscious choices about where to focus attention.
3. Factors like acknowledging anxious thoughts, using breath as a benign distractor, and actively choosing where to direct attention significantly affected students’ ability to manage exam-related anxiety and engage with academic material.
4. This research has certain limitations such as a small sample size, predominantly female participants, and reliance on self-reported experiences rather than objective measures of anxiety or performance.
5. Understanding how adolescents apply mindfulness techniques to manage academic stress is universally relevant for improving student well-being and academic outcomes.

Rationale

The study aimed to explore how high school students perceived and applied mindfulness techniques to manage anxiety related to academic performance after completing an MBSR course.

Previous research has shown that mindfulness-based interventions can reduce test anxiety among university students (Cho et al., 2016; Dundas et al., 2020; Lothes et al., 2023).

Some studies have also indicated benefits for younger students with test anxiety (Gouda et al., 2016; McLeod & Boyes, 2021).

However, there was a lack of research on how adolescent participants specifically perceive and apply mindfulness in relation to tests and exams.

Understanding adolescents’ experiences and processes can help further develop and adapt mindfulness-based interventions for this age group.

Method

The study employed a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews.

Twenty-two high school students (20 females, 2 males, mean age 17.8 years) who completed an 8-week MBSR course were interviewed within a month after the course.

Interviews were conducted by psychologists and a graduate psychology student who were not involved in delivering the intervention.

The interview guide included questions about participants’ experiences with school-related stress, their general experiences with the MBSR course, and specific probes about the usefulness of mindfulness practices for managing exam anxiety.

Sample

Participants were recruited from three local high schools through information on school web pages, posters, and a newspaper ad.

Forty-three students initially contacted the researchers, and after screening for eligibility, 33 enrolled in one of three 8-week MBSR courses offered over a two-year period.

Twenty-two participants completed the intervention, and 20 of these completers plus two non-completers were available for interviews.

Result

The analysis identified six main themes:

1. Noticing and attending to the attention-binding “maelstrom” of anxious thoughts and feelings

Participants described becoming more aware of anxious thoughts and feelings, allowing them to face these experiences without being carried away.

For example, Cecilia explained:

“I think it has become easier for me to notice as soon as I start to get carried away (…) Earlier, I would not notice it, it just continued and continued.”

Attending to the breath to cope with the maelstrom

Students reported using breath awareness as a way to redirect attention from troubling thoughts.

Alice noted:

“When I notice that I’m stressing, it is now more possible for me to [check]: am I breathing?”

“Removing” and “getting rid of” anxious thoughts

Some participants described the practice as helping to remove or reduce the influence of anxious thoughts.

Fiona said:

“[before a test] I attend to my breathing, and concentrate on that [the breath], so much that I don’t think about everything else [worries]. And that makes you more relaxed.”

Being able to “think”

Mindfulness practices helped students regain the ability to think clearly when anxious.

Iris explained:

“When I’m stressed, I don’t manage to think rationally, and then I easily feel hopeless and start crying. […] But now, at times when I’m stressed, it doesn’t get that far.”

Awareness of more helpful thoughts

Participants reported that attending to the breath created space for more constructive thoughts to emerge.

Elisabeth described:

“I’ve managed to relax a bit more when I’m up there presenting, because I manage to think a bit rather than just deliver a rote text.”

Agency and control

Students experienced a greater sense of choice and control over their attention and responses to anxiety.

Lisa elaborated:

“It’s about being focused on what you are doing at this moment, the thoughts you have, and the choices you make concerning those thoughts.”

Insight and Depth

This study provides valuable insights into the processes through which adolescents apply mindfulness techniques to manage academic stress.

The findings suggest that mindfulness training helps students develop metacognitive awareness of their anxious thoughts and feelings, as well as the ability to intentionally redirect attention.

The use of breath awareness as a “benign distractor” appears to be a key mechanism for breaking the grip of anxious rumination and creating space for more constructive thinking.

The study also highlights the importance of agency and choice in managing anxiety. By learning to observe their thoughts and consciously decide where to direct attention, students gained a sense of control over their internal experiences.

This aligns with broader theories of mindfulness that emphasize the cultivation of non-reactive awareness and intentional attention regulation.

Strengths

The study had several methodological strengths, including:

1. In-depth, semi-structured interviews allowing for rich qualitative data
2. Interviews conducted by researchers not involved in delivering the intervention, reducing potential bias
3. A relatively large sample size for a qualitative study (22 participants)
4. Inclusion of both completers and non-completers of the MBSR course
5. Use of reflexive thematic analysis, allowing for a balance between participant perspectives and researcher interpretation

Limitations

This study also had several methodological limitations, including:

1. The sample was predominantly female, limiting generalizability to male adolescents
2. Participants were self-selected, potentially biasing the sample towards those more open to mindfulness practices
3. The study relied on self-reported experiences rather than objective measures of anxiety or academic performance
4. The long-term effects of the mindfulness training were not assessed
5. The study was conducted in a specific cultural context (Norway), which may limit generalizability to other cultures

Implications

The results suggest that mindfulness training can provide adolescents with valuable tools for managing academic stress and anxiety.

The emphasis on developing metacognitive awareness and the ability to intentionally redirect attention could inform the design of targeted interventions for test anxiety in high school settings.

The findings also highlight the potential of mindfulness practices to enhance students’ sense of agency and control in challenging academic situations.

Educators and school counselors could incorporate brief mindfulness practices, such as breath awareness exercises, into exam preparation and test-taking contexts.

However, it’s important to note that the effectiveness of these techniques may vary depending on individual differences and the specific nature of students’ anxiety.

Conclusion

This study provides important insights into how adolescents apply mindfulness techniques to manage academic stress and anxiety.

By developing awareness of anxious thoughts and learning to intentionally redirect attention, students can create space for more constructive thinking and regain a sense of control in challenging academic situations.

While further research is needed to establish the generalizability and long-term effects of these findings, the study suggests that mindfulness-based interventions hold promise for supporting adolescent well-being and academic performance.

The complexity of adolescent experiences with mindfulness and academic stress underscores the need for nuanced, age-appropriate interventions.

Future research should explore the effectiveness of targeted mindfulness practices for different types of academic stressors and investigate potential gender differences in the application and benefits of these techniques.

References

Primary reference

Dundas, I., & Binder, P. E. (2024). Being able to think when caught in the maelstrom-how adolescents used mindfulness when facing exams. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 19(1), 2375660. https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2024.2375660

Other references

Cho, H., Ryu, S., Noh, J., & Lee, J. (2016). The effectiveness of daily mindful breathing practices on test anxiety of students. PloS one, 11(10), e0164822. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0164822

Dundas, I., Ravnanger, K., Binder, P. E., & Stige, S. H. (2020). A Qualitative Study of Use of Mindfulness to Reduce Long-Term Use of Habit-Forming Prescription Drugs. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11, 493349. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.493349

Gouda, S., Luong, M. T., Schmidt, S., & Bauer, J. (2016). Students and teachers benefit from mindfulness-based stress reduction in a school-embedded pilot study. Frontiers in psychology, 7, 590. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00590

Lothes, J. E., Matney, S., Naseer, Z., & Pfyffer, R. (2023). Sitting meditation and mindfulness effects on overall anxiety and test anxiety among college students. Mind, Brain, and Education, 17(1), 61-69. https://doi.org/10.1111/mbe.12344

McLeod, C., & Boyes, M. (2021). The effectiveness of social-emotional learning strategies and mindful breathing with biofeedback on the reduction of adolescent test anxiety. Canadian Journal of Education, 44(3), 815-847. https://doi.org/10.53967/cje-rce.v44i3.4869

Keep learning

Suggested Socratic questions for a college class discussion:

1. How might the process of acknowledging anxious thoughts before redirecting attention differ from simply trying to suppress or ignore those thoughts?
2. In what ways could the concept of using breath as a “benign distractor” be applied to other areas of life beyond academic stress?
3. How might the development of metacognitive awareness through mindfulness practice influence an individual’s overall approach to learning and academic challenges?
4. Consider the theme of agency and control that emerged from the study. How might this sense of agency impact students’ long-term academic motivation and resilience?
5. The study focused on high school students. How might the application of mindfulness techniques for managing academic stress differ for college students or younger children?
6. What ethical considerations should be taken into account when implementing mindfulness interventions in school settings?
7. How might cultural factors influence the perception and effectiveness of mindfulness practices for managing academic stress?
8. The study relied on self-reported experiences. What objective measures could be used in future research to complement these subjective accounts?
9. How might the findings of this study inform the development of technology-based interventions for managing academic stress?
10. Consider the potential long-term impacts of learning mindfulness techniques in adolescence. How might these skills influence individuals’ approach to stress and challenges in adulthood?