Impact of mindfulness on sleep quality in dental students

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness practice in improving sleep quality in dental students. The research was designed with a quantitative and experimental approach, selecting 24 first-semester students through simple random sampling. These participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group. For eight weeks, the experimental group participated in mindfulness sessions, while the control group did not receive any additional intervention. To measure sleep quality, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Questionnaire was used, administered before and after the intervention. The results revealed a significant improvement in falling asleep, in the duration of sleep, and in the reduction of daytime dysfunction in the group that practiced mindfulness. In addition, these students reported an increase in their hours of rest and an improvement in their performance in daily activities. In contrast, the control group showed an aggravation of sleep problems. The independent samples t-test showed significant differences between both groups in the dimensions evaluated, with a confidence level of 95% (p < 0.05). It was concluded that the practice of mindfulness is an effective tool to improve sleep quality in university students. This study provides solid evidence on the benefits of this technique in university life and suggests exploring its long-term effectiveness in future research.

Keywords:

students, intervention, well-being