Impact of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention on Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Internalized Symptoms in Elementary School Students With Severe Learning Disabilities: Results From a Randomized Cluster Trial

Impact of a mindfulness-based intervention on well-being and mental health of elementary school children: results from a randomized cluster trial

Prevention programs, such as mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs), are often implemented in schools to prevent psychological disorders from emerging in children and to support their mental health. This study used a randomized cluster design to evaluate the impact of a MBI, called Mission Méditation, on the well-being and the mental health of elementary school children's. 13 classrooms of an elementary school were randomly allocated to the experimental condition (7 classrooms, n = 127 students) or the waitlist control condition (6 classrooms, n = 104 students). Participants in the experimental condition received a 10-week MBI. Regression analyses revealed significant differences between conditions for inattention. Participants in the MBI condition reported no change in pre- to post-intervention, whereas participants in the control condition reported pre- to post-intervention increases. Results also showed significant differences in perceived competence. Participants in the MBI condition reported a non-significant decrease in perceive competence, whereas participants in the control condition reported significantly higher perceive competence scores from pre- to post-intervention. Results do not indicate that the MBI had a significant impact on participant's well-being and mental health. This suggests that MBIs may not have an added value when compared to other preventive interventions geared towards well-being and mental health promotion in school settings.

When Mindfulness Becomes a Mental Health Risk: The Relevance of Emotion Regulation Difficulties and Need Frustration

Although a great deal of research has shown the positive effects of mindfulness on mental health, some studies have provided evidence that mindfulness can have negative consequences. However, not much is known about the conditions that can account for such negative effects. We examined the moderating roles of difficulties in emotion regulation and basic psychological need frustration in the relationship between mindfulness and psychological ill-being. Longitudinal data were collected at three points in time during a 6-month period from two adult samples in Turkey and Germany. Self-report measures were used to measure ill-being, mindfulness, emotion regulation difficulties, and need frustration. In the German sample, difficulties in emotion regulation and need frustration were related to ill-being, but there were no significant interactions. In the Turkish sample, need frustration predicted ill-being, and the interaction between mindfulness and difficulties in emotion regulation also predicted ill-being. Mindfulness was a protective factor among people with no major difficulties in emotion regulation, whereas it was a risk factor among those with emotion regulation difficulties. The findings suggest that the relationship between mindfulness and ill-being may be more complex than previously thought.

Perceptions and Expectations of School-Based Professionals Surrounding School-Based Mindfulness Training in Appalachia During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

Background

School-based professionals often report high burnout, particularly in geographic areas like Appalachia, where school-aged children are exposed to high levels of adverse childhood experiences, which may be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. While school-based mindfulness trainings can reduce burnout, their efficacy is influenced by the expectations of intervention personnel ahead of implementation. The present study assessed expectations and perceptions of a school-based mindfulness training among school personnel in 21 Appalachian schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

Upon enrollment in the training, staff (N = 191) responded to open ended survey questions regarding perceived impacts of COVID-19 on students, expected benefits and barriers to school-based mindfulness, and perceived community acceptance of mindfulness.

Results

School personnel identified social isolation and lack of structure as negative impacts of COVID-19 on students. Expected benefits of classroom mindfulness included improved coping skills, focus, and emotion regulation, whereas barriers included lack of time and student ability level (e.g., age, attention). While most respondents indicated that their community was accepting of mindfulness practices, some noted resistance to and misperceptions of mindfulness, which may illustrate the influence of local cultural norms and values on the acceptability of mental health interventions.

Conclusions

Overall, these findings suggest positive expectations and relative perceived support for mindfulness practices within these Appalachian communities, including in response to negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on students. Adapting practices and language to accommodate barriers such as time, student ability, and cultural misconceptions of mindfulness may increase the feasibility and efficacy of these interventions.

Existential Therapy for Children: Impact of a Philosophy for Children Intervention on Positive and Negative Indicators of Mental Health in Elementary School Children

Background: Philosophy for children (P4C) was initially developed in the 1970s and served as an educational program to promote critical thinking, caring, creative reasoning and inquiry in the educational environment. Quasi-experimental research on P4C, a school-based approach that aims to develop children’s capacity to think by and for themselves, has suggested it could be an interesting intervention to foster greater basic psychological need satisfaction in children in school settings. Objective: The goal of the present study was to evaluate the impact of P4C on basic psychological need satisfaction and mental health in elementary school students. Method: Students from grades one to three (N = 57) took part in this study and completed pre- and post-intervention questionnaires. A randomized cluster trial with a wait-list control group was implemented to compare the effects of P4C on students’ mental health. Results: Analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs) revealed a significant effect of group condition on levels of autonomy and anxiety, after controlling for baseline levels. Participants in the experimental group showed higher scores in autonomy, when compared to participants in the control group, and participants in the experimental group showed lower anxiety scores, when compared to participants in the control group. Conclusion: Overall, results from this study show that P4C may be a promising intervention to foster greater autonomy in elementary school children, while also improving mental health.

Impact of a Combined Philosophy and Mindfulness Intervention on Positive and Negative Indicators of Mental Health Among Pre-kindergarten Children: Results From a Pilot and Feasibility Study

Background: Fostering greater resiliency to stress, optimal psychosocial development and promoting better mental health and well-being in youth is an important goal of the Canadian and American elementary school systems (1, 2). Recent research on mindfulness and philosophy for children (P4C) has yielded promising results regarding innovative interventions that may be implemented in elementary school settings to foster greater child resiliency and well-being (3-5). Goal: The goal of this feasibility study was to pilot a new intervention, which combines mindfulness meditation and P4C activities, with the goal of improving mental health in pre-kindergarten children, assessed with positive (i.e., social skills and adaptability) and negative (i.e., internalized symptoms, comprises depression, anxiety, inattention; and hyperactivity) indicators. Methods: A randomized cluster trial with a wait-list control group was employed to evaluate the impact of the combined MBI and P4C intervention on child mental health. Two classrooms of pre-kindergarten children (N = 38, mean age = 4.6 years old) took part in this study and were randomly allocated to the experimental or wait-list control conditions. Teachers completed pre- and post-intervention questionnaires. Results: ANCOVAs did not reveal a significant effect of condition on internalized symptoms, controlling for baseline levels. Sensitivity analyses indicated that for the whole sample, internalized symptom scores were statistically significantly lower at post-intervention, when compared to pre-intervention scores. No impact of group on levels of hyperactivity was found, however, sensitivity analyses indicated that for both the experimental and control groups, hyperactivity scores were statistically significantly lower at post-intervention, when compared to pre-intervention scores. Finally, no impact of group on levels of social skills and adaptability were found. Sensitivity analyses conducted using paired t-tests did not indicate statistically significant pre-to-post changes in scores for both variables. Conclusion: These preliminary results suggest that mindfulness and philosophy for children may not be the most effective intervention to foster short-term resiliency, well-being and better mental health in children. Yet, group differences were often small and past research suggested the effectiveness of this type of intervention. Further research considering the impact of moderators such as age or baseline levels of psychopathology, using longer time frames and comparing the effectiveness of this combined intervention with other types of school-based interventions with similar aims (such as, e.g., P4C or MBI alone) is warranted, to evaluate if mindfulness and P4C interventions have an added value compared to other types of interventions implemented in school settings.