ABSTRACT

Objectives

The COVID-19 pandemic has had negative mental health impacts. Online psychological interventions can facilitate rapid access to mental health resources. This study examined the outcomes of a 4-lesson, self-help online mindfulness course during the early months of the pandemic in Australia.

Methods

5058 adults commenced the Introduction to Mindfulness course and completed measures of psychological distress (Kessler-10) and wellbeing (Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale). 3696 individuals commenced their course between 2016 and 2019 (“pre-COVID” group), while 1362 started their course between 12 March 2020 and 31 July 2020 (“during-COVID” group).

Results

Participants in the during-COVID-pandemic group reported slightly lower levels of psychological distress and higher levels of wellbeing compared to the pre-COVID group. In both groups, the mindfulness course was associated with medium effect size reductions in psychological distress (g = .49-.55) and small effect size improvements in wellbeing (g = .27-.41).

Conclusions

The mindfulness course was associated with reduced psychological distress before and during the pandemic. Results underscore the generalisability of online mindfulness interventions to pandemic situations.

KEY POINTS

What is already known about this topic:

1. The mental health impacts associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have been substantial.

2. Mental health service provision has adapted to meet community health needs in the wake of the pandemic.

3. It is unclear if the effectiveness of online mental health interventions will generalise to pandemic conditions.

What this paper adds:

1. The outcomes of an online mindfulness course were explored.

2. The course was associated with improved psychological distress and wellbeing both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.

3. Results highlight the utility of digital mental health services during COVID-19.

中文翻译：

---

COVID-19 期间在线自助正念计划的采用和结果

摘要

目标

COVID-19 大流行对心理健康产生了负面影响。在线心理干预可以促进快速获取心理健康资源。这项研究检查了澳大利亚大流行初期的 4 节课、自助式在线正念课程的结果。

方法

5058 名成年人开始了正念入门课程，并完成了心理困扰 (Kessler-10) 和幸福感测量 (Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale)。3696 人在 2016 年至 2019 年期间开始了他们的课程（“COVID 之前”组），而 1362 人在 2020 年 3 月 12 日至 2020 年 7 月 31 日期间开始了他们的课程（“COVID 期间”组）。

结果

与 COVID 前组相比，COVID 大流行期间组的参与者报告的心理困扰水平略低，幸福感水平更高。在这两组中，正念课程与心理困扰的中等效果减少（g = .49-.55）和幸福感的小效果改善（g = .27-.41）相关。

结论

正念课程与在大流行之前和期间减少心理困扰有关。结果强调了在线正念干预对大流行情况的普遍性。

关键点

关于这个主题的已知信息：

1. 与 COVID-19 大流行相关的心理健康影响是巨大的。

2. 在大流行之后，精神卫生服务的提供已经适应了社区卫生需求。

3. 目前尚不清楚在线心理健康干预的有效性是否会推广到大流行病。

本文补充了什么：

1. 探索了在线正念课程的结果。

2. 该课程与澳大利亚 COVID-19 大流行之前和期间的心理困扰和幸福感的改善有关。

3. 结果突出了 COVID-19 期间数字心理健康服务的效用。