ArticleBMC psychology2022
Mindfulness practice correlates with reduced exam-induced stress and improved exam performance in preclinical medical students with the "acting with awareness", "non-judging" and "non-reacting" facets of mindfulness particularly associated with improved exam performance.
Article in BMC psychology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Psychosocial factors associated with academic performance in medical students: a systematic review.BMC medical education · 2026Pooled it
- A Brief Online Program Integrating Mindfulness and Stretching Exercises: Effects on Well-Being in Health Sciences Students.Journal of clinical psychology · 2025Trial
- Observational
- The Impact of an Exam "Safety Net" Program in a Pre-Clinical "Foundations" Course on Test Scores, and Students' Perception of the Learning Environment.Medical science educator · 2025Article
- How trait mindfulness protects late adolescents from stress-induced sleep problems: the unique role of mindfulness facets and gender differences.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Developing and evaluating a Portuguese-language meditation App for medical students: motivation, adherence, and emotional effects.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Effect of resilience training interventions on salivary cortisol and perceived stress among Indian school students.Bioinformation · 2025Article
- A Call to Action: Leveraging Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Medical Education Reform.PRiMER (Leawood, Kan.) · 2025Article
- The role of mindfulness in stress, productivity and wellbeing of foundation year doctors: a mixed-methods feasibility study of the mindful resilience and effectiveness training programme.BMC medical education · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMedical students demonstrate higher levels of psychological distress compared with the general population and other student groups, especially at exam times. Mindfulness interventions show promise in stress reduction for this group, and in the reduction of cortisol, an established clinical marker of the body's stress response. This study investigated the relationship of mindfulness to exam-induced stress, salivary cortisol and exam performance in undergraduate medical students.
methodsA controlled pre-post analysis design with within-groups comparisons. 67 medical students completed the five facet mindfulness questionnaire (FFMQ) and provided saliva samples, from which cortisol was extracted, during group work (control/baseline) and immediately prior to end of year 2 examinations (experimental). Academic performance data was extracted for comparison with measures.
resultsExam-induced salivary cortisol concentration showed a significant negative relation with exam performance. Total FFMQ score showed a significant positive relation with exam performance and a significant negative relation with exam-induced salivary cortisol. The specific mindfulness facets of acting with awareness, non-judging and non-reacting also showed a positive correlation with exam performance.
conclusionsThis study suggests that there exists an important relationship between mindfulness and the physiological biomarker of stress, cortisol, and this manifests into improved assessment outcomes potentially through healthier, more adaptive coping and stress management strategies. In particular, this study identifies the acting with awareness, non-judging and non-reacting facets of mindfulness to be significantly associated with exam performance suggesting that these may be important facets for clinical educators to target when helping students with mindfulness practice.
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