Mindfulness-Based College: A Stage 1 Randomized Controlled Trial for University Student Well-Being.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate effects of a mindfulness-based program, adapted to the young adult life course stage (age, 18-29 years), named Mindfulness-Based College (MB-College). The primary outcome was a young adult health summary score, composed of key health risk factors: body mass index, physical activity, fruit and vegetable intake, alcohol consumption, stress, loneliness, and sleep duration. Secondary outcomes were hypothesized self-regulation mechanisms, including attention control, interoceptive awareness, and emotion regulation. METHODS: This was a stage 1 randomized controlled trial of the 9-week MB-College program (n = 47) versus enhanced usual care control (n = 49) including students from three universities. Assessments were at baseline, during the beginning of the college term when stress is typically lower, and at MB-College completion (3-month follow-up), when term-related stress is typically higher. Intention-to-treat, linear regression analyses estimated the marginal effects of MB-College versus control on the outcomes. RESULTS: MB-College participants (mean age = 20 years, 68% female, 37% racial minorities) demonstrated improved health summary scores at follow-up compared with control participants whose health summary scores worsened (marginal effect for MB-College versus control = 0.23; p = .004). Effects on loneliness were pronounced (marginal effect = -3.11 for the Revised University of Los Angeles Loneliness Scale score; p = .03). Secondary analyses showed significant impacts of MB-College on hypothesized self-regulation mechanisms (e.g., Sustained Attention to Response Task correct no-go percent, p = .0008; Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness, p < .0001; Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale, p = .03). CONCLUSIONS: Findings of this early stage clinical trial suggest that MB-College may foster well-being in young adults.Trial Registration: NCT03124446.

The Society of Behavioral Medicine supports an increase in funding for Medication-Assisted-Treatment (MAT) to address the opioid crisis.

Opioid use has become an epidemic in the USA. Although there are safe uses for opioids to help manage acute pain, the effects of long-term use and any misuse of opioids can have grave outcomes, including death. To provide an empirically based "ask" for increased funding from the federal government to increase the reimbursement for and the integration of the behavioral component of Medication-Assisted-Treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorders, current policy was reviewed and important gaps in funding and treatment fidelity were identified. Current barriers to treatment include a dearth of treatment programs and a greater emphasis on and reimbursement for the pharmacological component of MAT only, leaving the behavioral component largely underfunded. We recommend additional funding to (a) increase the availability of and coverage for MAT that combines both pharmacological and behavioral components and (b) support the scientific inquiry into the factors that contribute to, maintain, and exacerbate opioid-related issues. We also recommend declaring the opioid epidemic a national emergency and not just a public health emergency, which would provide immediate access to billions of dollars in federal dollars to fund treatment programs.