Abigail Castle

Abstract:

A large body of assessment literature suggests that mindfulness can aid in a plethora of things specifically stress reduction. There is a gap in the research of the effects mindfulness among youth in the current body of literature This paper explores the potential of mindfulness based stress reduction among eleventh grade high school students. The sample consisted of n= 11, Hampton High School eleventh grade students. A pre and post survey with a ten day study, using the online source Headspace, was used to examine the effect of mindfulness on stress levels. One section of the survey was modeled after the Perceived Stress Level Survey created by Dr. Sheldon Cohen. The main findings were the following: 1.) high school students lack effective coping skills; 2.) school is one of the major sources of stress for an eleventh grade student, and 3.) mindfulness is an easy and effective method; therefore, mindfulness has the potential to reduce stress among high school students if the program is developed correctly.The findings here add some specifically to this view, and may also have some relevance to practice in real life. With more extensive research, we could gain an even greater depth of understanding within this field of mindfulness based stress reduction.