Mindful Self-Care in Higher Education

Abstract

Higher education institutions struggle to provide the needed mental health support for all students. In this study, we examined the mindful self-care practices of students (N = 406) in higher education in the United States. We found that graduate students experienced significantly higher self-care than undergraduate students. More specifically, graduate students reported higher self-care in Cook-Cottone and Guyker’s mindful awareness, physical care, and supportive structures domains. We also compared the self-care experiences of White and ethnic and racial minority students (ERMS). We found no significant differences for graduate students. However, White undergraduate students experienced significantly higher self-care in the supportive relationships domain than ERMS. The higher supportive relationships for White students persisted when we compared undergraduate White versus ERMS who had immediate family members who had attended college. Our findings highlight gaps in self-care practices that higher education institutions may target to improve student well-being, academic success, and retention.