Role of Didactic Teaching and Mindfulness in Shaping Mental Health Literacy and Reducing the Adverse Effects of Stress and Trauma among Students (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Mental health literacy is essential for students to effectively manage stress, trauma, and academic demands, yet modifiable educational predictors remain underexplored. OBJECTIVE This mixed-methods exploratory study at Shinawatra University examined the roles of didactic teaching and mindfulness-based interventions in improving mental health literacy and reducing the adverse impacts of stress among 40 international graduate students in Thailand. METHODS Participants engaged in a 90-minute structured pro-gram integrating didactic mental health education with mindfulness activities (e.g., "grounding, breathing exercises, and gratitude reflection") RESULTS Findings revealed that 54.2% of the 24 respondents who completed the post-intervention survey preferred mindfulness activities for enhancing emotional understanding, practical coping skills, and motivation to seek help, while many re-garded both didactic teaching and mindfulness as equally effective. A total of 40 par-ticipants began the study. All 40 contributed qualitative data for thematic analysis (Table 1). The post-intervention preference survey had a response rate of 60% (n=24). The study identified top mental health challenges faced by students, including aca-demic pressure (62%, n=25), relationship difficulties (47%, n=19), homesickness (38%, n=15), physical fatigue (35%, n=14), and future anxiety (28%, n=11). Results indicate that didactic teaching effectively conveys foundational mental health knowledge, fos-tering awareness and destigmatization, whereas mindfulness practices cultivate emotional resilience and self-regulation. CONCLUSIONS Integrating these approaches addresses diverse learning styles, promoting a holistic enhancement of mental health literacy. This synergy equips students with cognitive understanding and experiential skills essential for navigating psychological stress-ors. The study underscores the importance of embedding combined didactic and mindfulness interventions within educational frameworks to mitigate stress and trauma effects, fostering student well-being and academic success