The Relationship between Mindfulness Practice and Mental Health in Youth: A Mixed-Methods Study in Vietnamese Universities
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Abstract
This study examined the relationship between mindfulness practice and mental health among Vietnamese university students in the context of increasing psychological distress in higher education. Although mindfulness has been widely studied in Western contexts, empirical evidence from Asian societies with living Buddhist traditions remains comparatively limited, particularly studies that integrate standardized quantitative measures with qualitative accounts of students’ lived experience.
A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was employed, with a cross-sectional quantitative phase followed by qualitative interviews. Quantitative data were collected from 412 university students aged 18–25 in Hanoi using the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). Qualitative data were collected through 20 semi-structured interviews with regular mindfulness practitioners and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.
The quantitative findings showed significant negative correlations between total mindfulness and depression (r = -0.52, p < .001), anxiety (r = -0.47, p < .001), and stress (r = -0.44, p < .001), as well as a positive correlation with life satisfaction (r = 0.41, p < .001). Multiple regression analyses indicated that non-reactivity and acting with awareness were the strongest mindfulness facets associated with more favorable mental health indicators.
The qualitative findings generated four themes: mindfulness as an emotion-regulation resource, enhanced self-awareness and self-acceptance, transformed coping with academic and social pressures, and spiritual connection with values-based living. The findings suggest culturally responsive implications for mindfulness activities in Vietnamese higher education. Mindfulness may be presented not only as a secular stress-reduction skill but also as a practice that integrates evidence-informed psychological training with Buddhist-informed ethical and contemplative dimensions, including sati, sīla, samādhi, and paññā. Because the quantitative phase was cross-sectional, the findings should be interpreted as associations rather than causal effects.
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