Medication use, social determinants of health, and latent trajectories of functional outcomes in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

The progression to university level study is commonly associated with significant academic and psychosocial challenges that leave university students vulnerable to psychological distress and disturbed sleep and difficulties in emotion regulation (Akram et al., ; Taylor et al., ). Indeed, university study typically involves a less structured learning environment that emphasizes autonomy of learning paired with increased academic expectations in relation to quality of work and general capability (Cleary et al., ). Moreover, because of increasingly higher costs of living and increased tuition fees, financial strain associated with living on a limited self‐managed budget for the first time may be particularly difficult for UK students (O'Neill et al., ). By contrast, in the absence of parental supervision, social and collegial activities related to the university lifestyle present opportunities for increased alcohol intake, potential substance use, and formation of sexual relationships (Cleary et al., ; Foster et al., ). These factors possibly create an environment that precipitates mental health difficulties among vulnerable young adults. Despite a pattern of yearly decline in student mental health (Gardani et al., ), institutional well‐being services consistently fail to meet the increasing demand for support (Cleary et al., ; Thorley, ). Crucially, several reports evidence institutional processes to be arduous and often ineffective, particularly when approaching common psychiatric conditions (Hardre & Reeve, ; Harrod et al., ; O'Neill et al., ). Therefore, it is vital for student well‐being services to expand the respective programs offered alongside the scope of symptoms covered (Akram et al., ). Here, we examine the role of two potentially therapeutic approaches that may serve to improve mental health outcomes in the student population: repeated mindfulness‐based practice (MBP) and attachment security priming. The methodological principles of Buddhist mindfulness meditation have long been incorporated into Western therapeutic protocols for psychological and physical well‐being (Ryan et al., ). Mindfulness‐based theories state that trait mindfulness enhances one's capacity to experience thoughts, feelings, and present moment experience with an attitude of nonjudgment and acceptance (Brown & Ryan, ). The capacity to be mindful is considered an enduring and multifaceted trait‐like individual difference (i.e. dispositional mindfulness; Brown & Ryan, ), often associated with improved psychological well‐being and reduced reports of stress, anxiety, and depression (Weinstein et al., ). Indeed, mindfulness practice (MBP) and mindfulness‐based interventions deployed across a broad spectrum of populations yield clinically significant improvements for those experiencing psychological distress (Luoma & Villatte, ), psychiatric distress (Creswell, ), poor sleep (Winbush et al., ), and medical illness (Gu et al., ; Ludwig, ). Here, deploying meditation practices for longer periods is known to moderate the efficacy of MBP in relation to increased mindfulness and psychological well‐being and reduced psychological distress (Carmody & Baer, ).