Felver, Joshua C. et al.
International Journal of School and Educational Psychology, 2018, 159, 1-12. The study examined how Grades 9-12 students responded to the 8-week Learning to Breathe (L2B) curriculum in an ethnically diverse school with the following a priori hypotheses: 1) students would show improvements in psychosocial resiliency; 2) demonstrate reductions in problem behaviors; and 3) have increased attendance and grades as a result of participating in the intervention. Because L2B is designed to be a universal prevention program and is easily integrated into secondary settings at the classroom level, it may have great utility for increasing students’ capacity to withstand the high levels of stress typically experienced during this developmental period. Forty students from two health classes were invited to participate. A Randomized Trial Evaluating School-Based Mindfulness Intervention for Ethnic Minority Youth5/22/2018
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. April 2018, published online.
This randomized wait-list control study examined the impact of the Learn to Breathe mindfulness training curriculum on mental health and emotional outcomes in a sample of 145 Asian and Latino ninth-grade students attending an an urban school district serving primarily low income families. Pre-post assessments included self-reports on standardized instruments measuring stress, youth behavior problems, and emotional regulation and coping strategies at three time points, pre-intervention, post intervention and 3 months follow-up. Findings showed significant immediate improvements due to this curriculum on internalizing problems, perceived stress and rumination as well as strategies related to cognitive reappraisal, emotional processing and expression. Furthermore, youth showed improvement on all measures with comparison across time, though smallest effect sizes occurred for attention problems. Meditational analyses that were conducted suggested that improvements in youth’s internalizing problems and stress occurred due to the reduction in expressive suppression and rumination. Mindfulness training appears to facilitate youth’s capacity to engage in healthier patterns of relating to one's’ emotions and experience, and hence, greater emotional regulation and well-being. This study is important in that it is one of the few empirical studies to identify specific factors through which mindfulness training affects emotional well-being in youth. Johnson et al aimed to provide a rigorous evaluation of the mindfulness curriculum called .b (“Dot Be”) in early adolescence. A randomized controlled design was used with 555 students assigned to one of three conditions:
The measures included anxiety, depression, weight/shape concerns, well-being and a multi-dimensional mindfulness measure consisting of 8 factors. The students’ average age was 13.44 years. Results were measured post-intervention at 6 and 12 month follow up. No interactions were found between the 3 groups. Only one main effect occurred – students in the two mindfulness conditions had lower scores on one measured mindfulness factor: Acting with Awareness. The researchers explored what might have led to the null findings, such as low distress scores prior to the curriculum introduction. Particular study limitations included low parental involvement in the 3rd condition and limited compliance with home practice in both tested curriculum conditions. While the results from this rigorous study suggest a lack of efficacy for use of .b with this age group, it warrants further replication with a US sample and with students at a later stage of adolescence. Sat Bir S. Khalsa and Bethany Butzer
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1373 (2016), 45-55 These authors are timely in highlighting yoga's potential for developing Social Emotional Learning (SEL) skills as mental health concerns are so pervasive. The authors suggest that yoga may have significant benefit for three key areas: 1) mind-body awareness, 2) self-regulation and 3) physical fitness. Forty-seven peer-reviewed studies published from 2000 on the use of school-based yoga programs in elementary school settings are included in this bibliometric analysis. Of these, 57% included a randomized control study design. Overall, findings were generally positive and varied. Significant changes in students' emotional balance, attentional control, cognitive efficiency and memory were reported. Two of the three studies that included yoga for teacher support purposes found positive effects on measures associated with well-being. The authors conclude that the published evidence to date suggest that school-based yoga interventions hold promise for enhancing students mental state, health, performance, and positive behaviors. |
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