Evaluation of a Brief Mindfulness-based Intervention to Prevent Problematic Substance Use among First-year Medical Students

Abstract

Introduction. Beginning a degree in medicine involves a significant change in a student’s lifestyle, particularly during the early years, since stressful situations are difficult to address. Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness of Mindfulness Based Intervention (MBI) in medical students to reduce problematic substance use, stress, anxiety, and depressive symptomatology. Method. Experimental study of two groups with simple random assignment in a sample comprising 320 students. Results. The mean age of participants was 19; 85% reported having consumed alcohol at some time in their lives, 48% tobacco and 18% cannabis. Alcohol and tobacco use decreased slightly from baseline to follow-up in the group that received a MBI. At the same time, there was a statistically significant decrease in stress in the experimental group and anxiety decreased in both groups with statistically significant changes due to a probable imitation effect. Discussion and conclusion. The downward trend in alcohol and tobacco consumption could have intensified if the full intervention program had been completed, as observed in other studies in which five or more MBI sessions were given, achieving significant improvement. The reduction in the level of the variables examined coincides with studies showing the benefits of MBI as a mechanism for emotional regulation to cope with adverse events.