Who Benefits More? Optimising Mindfulness Based Interventions for Improved Psychological Outcomes

Mindfulness training has been gaining popularity in the past decade as a means of improving general well-being. This trend appears in response to the new stressors that have arisen with the increased stress of the 21st century. Studies have shown that the psychological state of metacognitive awareness encapsulated in mindfulness can promote the decreasing of stress as well as the secondary effect of improving sleep quality; both outcome measures of this study. While the body of research evaluating these benefits is growing, there is limited emphasis placed on the individual differences that can affect the overall efficacy of mindfulness training. Our aim in this study is to observe the effects of mindfulness training on perceived stress levels as well as on sleep using subjective measures in a large sample of trainees. To achieve this, participants will be recruited from a pool of people who have signed up for a 4-week foundational mindfulness or 8-week mindfulness based stress reduction course at Brahm Centre. Questionnaires will be administered both before and after these courses to evaluate both stress levels and sleep habits as well as other factors which could contribute to the efficacy of mindfulness training. These inventories will probe the different facets of interpersonal differences that could serve to influence the effectiveness of the mindfulness intervention. In addition, the investigators will also test the effect of conducting the course online during a situation of emergency, like it is the partial lockdown that was implemented in Singapore due to the spread of Covid-19. The proposed study has the potential to provide new insights into the factors that affect the efficacy of mindfulness on stress and sleep, in a situation of non-emergency (until February the 6th 2020) as well as during a period of heightened restrictions (DORSCON Orange, from 7th of February to 6th of April 2020) and a partial lockdown (from 7th of April to 1st of June 2020, or until resume of normal activity). Further, the investigators hope to build an algorithm that can predict the potential effectiveness of mindfulness on a person by person basis. This could serve as a foundation for future recommendations for mindfulness training as well as open the door for future studies that could serve to further customize the mindfulness training framework to accommodate individual differences