Supported Mindful Learning (SMiLe)

We collaborated with Dr. Rebecca Silton in the Loyola WELL lab, Dr. Jenna Duffecy from UIC, and the science team at Headspace, to run an 8-week intervention for depressed college students, over eight semesters/cohorts.  The intervention entailed using Headspace, an online/mobile application delivering brief, guided, themed mindfulness activities, and connecting with a small peer group both in-person and online (thorough a hidden, private Facebook group) to give and receive encouragement and support.  

 

We collected data from Headspace (on app engagement), as well as from participants themselves at four timepoints (baseline, 1-month midpoint, 2-month post, and 3-month follow-up) on various elements in order to examine the effects of the intervention on various outcomes, as well as moderation and mediation relationships among them:  

• Distress: depression, anxiety, distress, positive and negative affect, emodiversity

• Positive well-being: savoring, happiness, spirituality

• Skills and strategies: mindfulness, rumination, self-regulatory self-efficacy

• Relational skills and styles: social connectedness, prosocial tendencies, empathy, compassion and self-compassion

• Participants’ goals, motivations, engagement, and perceived supportive accountability via the online peer groups

Graduate students oversaw participant screening/eligibility, managed participant activity, administered and collected assessment data (at pre, post, and follow-up time-points), and monitored/facilitated the online peer group. 

 

In one paper (Conley, Gonzales, et al., 2024) we demonstrate the effects of the intervention on psychological distress (depression, anxiety, stress, negative affect) and positive well-being (positive affect and happiness, enhanced capacity to savor the moment, enhanced compassion, self-regulation, and trait-mindfulness). In another (Conley, Huguenel et al., in revision), we examined the benefits of two enhancements - an orientation at the start of the program and placement in a peer supportive accountability group - on increasing use of the app as well as everyday mindfulness, intentions to continue mindfulness after the intervention, and perceived benefits from the intervention. We have other papers in progress from this project.