De nombreuses recherches établissent les bienfaits de la pratique de la méditation de pleine conscience (mindfulness) et de celle du Tai Chi Chuan, mais très peu les mettent en perspective et portent sur des populations générales d’étudiants. Nous avons entrepris une étude pilote dans ce sens auprès de 33 étudiants de l’université de Limoges inscrits dans trois stages de 18h chacun, mindfulness, Tai Chi Chuan et témoin, organisés sur huit semaines. Les bénéfices ont été évalués trois fois (pré-/post-traitement, suivi à deux mois), aux mêmes moments pour les trois groupes, sur huit échelles explorant les difficultés de santé mentale et la santé mentale positive : questionnaire général de santé (GHQ-28), échelle de stress perçu (PSS-14), double échelle HAD anxiété-dépression, échelle d’auto-efficacité, échelle de satisfaction de vie (SWLS), échelle de bien-être (W-BQ12), questionnaire de mindfulness (FMI-14). En raison de quelques différences des niveaux de base, les échantillons des groupes mindfulness et Tai Chi sont considérés comme non équivalents. L’étude est quasi expérimentale avec groupe témoin en liste d’attente. Les résultats montrent des effets bénéfiques du Tai Chi Chuan, ceux de la pleine conscience n’apparaissent qu’à la mesure du temps de pratique personnelle quotidienne engagé, corrélés avec celui-ci. Une part des bénéfices se maintient deux mois après le stage.

This pilot study explores and provides insight into the effects of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention (MBI) and Tai Chi Chuan practice on students of all disciplines at the University of Limoges (France). The students had the choice of enroling in one of three groups (mindfulness, Tai Chi Chuan or ‘control’) for an 18-hour course held over eight weeks at the Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maîtres (IUFM). Tai Chi Chuan is a Chinese martial art from Tao and combines strength and flexibility, speed and slowness, active relaxation and concentration. It is often regarded as a form of ‘moving meditation’. Its psychological and physiological benefits are widely recognised. Introduced by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts through the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programme, mindfulness has its roots in Buddhist meditation but is a secular program. MBIs were developed, as a continuation of MBSR, for clinical populations suffering from psychological and somatic health problems, and for non-clinical populations exposed to stress or simply looking for improved balance and well-being. Little research has been done into the benefits of Tai Chi Chuan or mindfulness for students, and it is rare to find research which compares the benefits of Tai Chi Chuan with those of meditation. However, students make up a vulnerable population exposed to stress and psychopathological disorders.

Thirty-three volunteer students chose between two course periods: January–February for the two mindfulness or Tai Chi Chuan experimental groups, March–April for the third waiting list control group. The benefits for the three groups were assessed pre- and post-treatment, and at two-month follow-up, by eight scales exploring mental health problems and positive mental health: General Health Questionnaire GHQ-28, Perceived Stress Scale PSS-14, Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale, Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), Well-Being Scale (W-BQ12) and Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI-14). With regard to observed base level differences, samples of the Tai Chi and mindfulness groups were considered to be non-equivalent. The study was quasi-experimental controlled with pre-/post- and two-month follow-up testing, and a waiting list control group.

University exams appear to have affected the pre-test health and stress scores in January to a certain extent. In fact, the comparisons with the Student test t show a significant improvement in the control group between the pre-test at the beginning of January (during the exam period) and the post-test at the end of February (outside the exam period) on the GHG-28 (P=0.044) et PSS-14 (P=0.022) scales. The Tai Chi group recorded very significant pre- and post-test benefits on these two scales: GHG-28 (P=0.008) et PSS-14 (P=0.003). The Tai Chi group also noted significant benefits on the two other mental health problem scales: the HAD anxiety and HAD depression (P=0.025; P=0.015). Very significant benefits were observed for this group on three scales of positive mental health: General Self-Efficacy Scale (P=0.001), SWLS (P=0.001), W-BQ12 (P=0.003). The control group recorded no significant pre-/post-test benefit on these five scales. Mindfulness practice did not produce any significant pre-/post-intervention benefits for the group as a whole, however, individual benefits were noted in correlation to the time of personal practice at home required during the eight weeks of the course. There was a weak correlation between daily practice time and improvement of general health GHQ (r=0.558; P<0.1), medium correlation with anxiety reduction HAD (r=0.619; P=0.056), strong correlation with stress reduction PSS (r=0.759; P=0.011) and the development of aptitude in mindfulness FMI (r=0.759; P=0.006). No correlation with the daily practice time was observed in the Tai Chi group. As a whole, the mindfulness group gained very significant benefits at the two-month follow-up on the Anxiety (HAD anxiety, P=0.005) and Well-Being (W-BQ12, P=0.004) Scales, but not at post-test at the end of the course. The control group did not obtain benefits post-test. Ruths et al. (2013) similarly observed a decrease in anxiety (trait anxiety, STAI), three months after the course, rather than at the end of the course, in correlation with personal practice time up to the three months. They noted an improvement in well-being (psychological well-being, GHQ-12) from the end of the course, which lasted during the three month follow-up period, in correlation to the respect of daily personal practice. Fairly strong observance of required daily personal practice was noted in the Tai Chi (15min) and mindfulness (23min) groups. Tai Chi was clearly the most popular course, receiving a mark of 8.95/10. Mindfulness received more mixed reviews and was awarded an average mark of just 5.67/10. Tai Chi, as a more dynamic ‘moving meditation’, is possibly more suitable for young people, whereas mindfulness may be more beneficial for mature people. Incidentally, mindfulness students who committed to serious daily personal practice also gained significant benefits.