A Culturally Adapted Internet-Delivered Mindfulness Intervention for Indonesian University Students’ Distress: Overview of Development and Preliminary Study

Psychological distress is a common mental health problem among university students, including students from Low and Middle-income countries (LMICs), such as Indonesia. Mindfulness interventions that can reduce psychological distress have been growing in popularity and are being increasingly delivered through the Internet. The present study examined the development process and preliminary outcomes of an internet-delivered mindfulness program for distressed Indonesian university students. To develop a more culturally relevant program for Indonesian students, we conducted qualitative interviews and focus group discussions among students. We then conducted an open pilot trial with a sample of 40 university students with elevated psychological distress. Participants took part in the 4-lesson counsellor-guided online mindfulness intervention over 4 weeks and completed measures of distress (DASS-21) at baseline and post-treatment. During the pilot trial, the rate of program completion was 70%, and we found large, significant reductions in distress from baseline to post-treatment (Hedges’ g's = 1.05-1.68). These findings show that it is feasible to deliver an online mindfulness intervention for distressed Indonesian students. A randomized controlled trial is needed to explore the efficacy of this program.