Mindfulness Skills Training and Psychological Inflexibility: a Randomized Trial

The experimental design (randomized trial) was used in this study. Data were collected through convenience sampling. After obtaining ethical approval fromEthics Committee of the Bahçeşehir Cyprus University, participants were invited to participate in the study via advertisements posted in the university building. Recruited participants were randomly assigned to the experimental group or control group. All participants will be provided with an informed consent form which provided information about participant's right and data management. Participants in the experimental group completed mindfulness exercise on Virtual Reality (VR) system where they listened to an audio track (guide for the exercise) and saw calming nature scenes (e.g., views on the beach) whereas those in the control group completed mindfulness exercise by listening to the (same) audio track only. Each mindfulness session took approximately 15 mins. In total, four sessions were completed in two weeks (2 sessions per week). After obtaining informed consent, the participants completed a survey pack that included valid and reliable measurement scales (mindfulness skills [The Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale - Revised], experiential avoidance [Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II], and anxiety symptoms [Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale]) at two-time points (i.e., pre-test [before intervention], and post-test [after 4 sessions/when sessions were completed], At the end of the study, the participants were provided with a debrief form.