The Spanish journal of psychology
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of a mindfulness program on stress, anxiety and depression in university students.
Two of the problems that currently affect a large proportion of university students are high levels of anxiety and stress experienced in different situations, which are particularly high during the first years of their degree and during exam periods. The present study aims to investigate whether mindfulness training can bring about significant changes in the manifestations of depression, anxiety, and stress of students when compared to another group undergoing a physical activity program and a control group. The sample consisted of 125 students from the Bachelor of Education Program. ⋯ The results indicate that the effects of reducing the identified variables were higher for the mindfulness group than for the physical education group and for the control group F(2) = 5.91, p = .004, η2 = .106. The total scores for all variables related to the mindfulness group decreased significantly, including an important stress reduction t(29) = 2.95, p = .006, d = .667. Mindfulness exercises and some individual relaxing exercises involving Physical Education could help to reduce manifestations of stress and anxiety caused by exams in students.
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Excessive attention to pain is a common psychological characteristic among people who suffer from chronic pain. The Pain Vigilance and Awareness Questionnaire (PVAQ) is an internationally accepted tool to assess this feature, although there is no validated version of this measure for Spanish people with fibromyalgia. Since this pain syndrome mainly affects women, the aim of this study was to determine the psychometric properties of the PVAQ in Spanish women with fibromyalgia. ⋯ It showed good reliability (internal consistency α = .82), convergent validity and divergent validity (p < .01). The optimal cutoff point for identifying fibromyalgia women with worse daily functioning was a score of 24.5, with a sensitivity of .71 and a specificity of .75. The relevance of vigilance to pain for clinical research in fibromyalgia is discussed.