The effects of mindfulness based education program on depression and stress levels of individuals

In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of mindfulness therapies on depression and stress levels. To evaluate the effects of mindfulness therapies without a control group, quasi experimental methods and test-retest model were used. The participants in the experimental group of the study were gathered from Nişantaşı Junior Technical College at 2012-2013 school year. 15 female participants were the second year students of Child Development Department of the school. In this research, we used "Personal Information Questionnaire" to collect basic information from participants. In order to measure the depression levels, Beck Depression Scale was used. The levels of stress experienced by participants were measured by "Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)". PSS was developed by Cohen, Kamarck and Mermelstein in 1983. Before the implementation of measurement tools, we used test method and after measurement test, retest method was used. Ten weeks later, "the persistency test" was applied to determine the consistency of the experimental study. SPSS software was used to analyze the data Furthermore, Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to analyze the experimental data. In our research, experimental group had 8 sessions and each session was 75 minutes long. In conclusion, data analysis showed a significant decrease in the stress and depression levels in the experimental group. Additionally, the persistency test emphasized that stress and depression levels of participants consistently decreased during ten weeks.