Death recollection moderates stress-influenced depression in Thai boarding school students
Abstract Background Death recollection is a form of mindfulness meditation that orients a practitioner’s calm attention toward an awareness of death. This meditation is practiced by Theravada Buddhists of all ages throughout Thailand. This research investigates how recollecting death influences Thai...
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BMC
2025-07-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-03147-4 |
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| author | Justin DeMaranville Tinakon Wongpakaran Nahathai Wongpakaran Danny Wedding |
| author_facet | Justin DeMaranville Tinakon Wongpakaran Nahathai Wongpakaran Danny Wedding |
| author_sort | Justin DeMaranville |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Death recollection is a form of mindfulness meditation that orients a practitioner’s calm attention toward an awareness of death. This meditation is practiced by Theravada Buddhists of all ages throughout Thailand. This research investigates how recollecting death influences Thai teenager mental health. Methods Purposive and convenience sampling methods were used to recruit participants from five boarding schools in northern Thailand. Students aged 15–18 were invited to participate, and they completed the questionnaires Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Outcome Inventory: Depression Subscale (OI: Depression), and Inner Strength Based Inventory: Meditation (iSBI: Meditation). Moderation analysis was conducted with SPSS ver. 27 and PROCESS ver. 4.2. Results The sample comprised 440 students (88.2% female) with a mean age of 16.34 ± 0.96. This population had moderate stress (24.08 ± 5.04), low depression (3.82 ± 3.39), and an ‘often but not every day’ average meditation frequency (2.92 ± 1.38). There were 42 students (10.2%) who practiced death recollection in the past month. As hypothesized, death recollection practice moderated the relationship between stress and depression, indicating those who practiced may have had fewer symptoms of depression due to stress. The moderation effect was significant: B = 0.133, standard error = 0.061, 95% CI = .253 to .013 after controlling for the meditation frequency of the population. Conclusions The significant moderation effect suggests that death recollection may negatively influence how stress can contribute to the development of depression symptoms in boarding school students. A longitudinal study is recommended to confirm variable interaction across time for assessing death recollection as a causal influence of stress influenced depressive symptoms. This would clarify whether long-term practice strengthens moderation over time. Highlights 1. The recollection of death is observed even among adolescents. 2. Recollection of death is discovered to mitigate depression resulting from stress. 3. Recollection of death is recommended after calming oneself with concentration meditation. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e3ec7c1542de418b953cbeaed2eb32bd |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2050-7283 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Psychology |
| spelling | doaj-art-e3ec7c1542de418b953cbeaed2eb32bd2025-08-20T03:06:10ZengBMCBMC Psychology2050-72832025-07-0113111110.1186/s40359-025-03147-4Death recollection moderates stress-influenced depression in Thai boarding school studentsJustin DeMaranville0Tinakon Wongpakaran1Nahathai Wongpakaran2Danny Wedding3Mental Health Program, Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary School (MIdS), Chiang Mai UniversityMental Health Program, Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary School (MIdS), Chiang Mai UniversityMental Health Program, Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary School (MIdS), Chiang Mai UniversityMental Health Program, Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary School (MIdS), Chiang Mai UniversityAbstract Background Death recollection is a form of mindfulness meditation that orients a practitioner’s calm attention toward an awareness of death. This meditation is practiced by Theravada Buddhists of all ages throughout Thailand. This research investigates how recollecting death influences Thai teenager mental health. Methods Purposive and convenience sampling methods were used to recruit participants from five boarding schools in northern Thailand. Students aged 15–18 were invited to participate, and they completed the questionnaires Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Outcome Inventory: Depression Subscale (OI: Depression), and Inner Strength Based Inventory: Meditation (iSBI: Meditation). Moderation analysis was conducted with SPSS ver. 27 and PROCESS ver. 4.2. Results The sample comprised 440 students (88.2% female) with a mean age of 16.34 ± 0.96. This population had moderate stress (24.08 ± 5.04), low depression (3.82 ± 3.39), and an ‘often but not every day’ average meditation frequency (2.92 ± 1.38). There were 42 students (10.2%) who practiced death recollection in the past month. As hypothesized, death recollection practice moderated the relationship between stress and depression, indicating those who practiced may have had fewer symptoms of depression due to stress. The moderation effect was significant: B = 0.133, standard error = 0.061, 95% CI = .253 to .013 after controlling for the meditation frequency of the population. Conclusions The significant moderation effect suggests that death recollection may negatively influence how stress can contribute to the development of depression symptoms in boarding school students. A longitudinal study is recommended to confirm variable interaction across time for assessing death recollection as a causal influence of stress influenced depressive symptoms. This would clarify whether long-term practice strengthens moderation over time. Highlights 1. The recollection of death is observed even among adolescents. 2. Recollection of death is discovered to mitigate depression resulting from stress. 3. Recollection of death is recommended after calming oneself with concentration meditation.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-03147-4BuddhismDeath meditationDeath contemplationStressDepressionTeenager |
| spellingShingle | Justin DeMaranville Tinakon Wongpakaran Nahathai Wongpakaran Danny Wedding Death recollection moderates stress-influenced depression in Thai boarding school students BMC Psychology Buddhism Death meditation Death contemplation Stress Depression Teenager |
| title | Death recollection moderates stress-influenced depression in Thai boarding school students |
| title_full | Death recollection moderates stress-influenced depression in Thai boarding school students |
| title_fullStr | Death recollection moderates stress-influenced depression in Thai boarding school students |
| title_full_unstemmed | Death recollection moderates stress-influenced depression in Thai boarding school students |
| title_short | Death recollection moderates stress-influenced depression in Thai boarding school students |
| title_sort | death recollection moderates stress influenced depression in thai boarding school students |
| topic | Buddhism Death meditation Death contemplation Stress Depression Teenager |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-03147-4 |
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