Mindfulness based intervention with an attentional comparison group in at risk young adolescents: a pilot randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background Risky behaviors are related to poor outcomes among young adolescents. This study piloted a mindfulness based intervention, Learning 2 Breath Mindfulness Curriculum, focusing on the feasibility of programming and intervention effects on coping, affect, and trait mindfulness among at-risk adolescents. Further, the mindfulness based intervention was compared to an attention intervention. Methods Sixth-grade level female students in a boarding school for at-risk youth randomly allocated to either the mindfulness intervention ( n = 12) or an attention intervention ( n = 11) for six weeks. Outcomes (i.e., primary coping, positive affect, and trait mindfulness) were assessed before and after the interventions. Results Intervention groups did not differ in demographics or outcomes at baseline. Twenty-two of 23 (95.7%) registered participants attended all of the sessions. Participants completed 86.4% of study tools. Separate repeated measures ANOVAs revealed no significant interactions among group and time for primary coping, positive affect, or mindfulness. However, positive affect did increase [ F (1, 17) = 10.675, p = 0.005, partial η 2 = 0.39] over time for both groups and there was a slight increase in trait mindfulness over time (although not statistically significant; p = 0.095, partial η 2 = 0.155]). Primary coping did not change with time. Conclusion The mindfulness intervention utilized in the present study exhibited feasibility in this population. Although preliminary, mindfulness based interventions may contribute to positive affect among at-risk youth in a boarding school. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

Program evaluation of a school-based mental health and wellness curriculum featuring yoga and mindfulness

“…Still, our findings were similar to a study who did not report improvement scores of anxiety or depression on the BASC [ 27 ]. Again, unlike the study that did not find differential effects on the RSQ scales [ 26 ], we did find differential effects. Improved spelling could reflect improved network connections since this has been associated with spelling and math [ 41 , 42 ] and with improved coping/emotion regulation skills [ 43 ]; this may be particularly helpful for kids with limited resources, which reflects the population of this study.…”

“…For example, a multi-year longitudinal study [ 25 ] measuring the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based stress reduction intervention in 12–18-year-olds found that youth significantly improved their internalizing problems (i.e., anxiety, depression, and somatization) as measured by the Behavioral Assessment System for Children. A randomized, controlled intervention study [ 26 ] compared primary coping scores on the Response to Stress Questionnaire prior to and after sixth-grade female students completed a mindfulness-based intervention or a control condition for six weeks. This study found no significant interactions between the control or intervention groups and primary coping skills.…”

Testing the Efficacy of ‘Unlearning’, a Mindfulness and Compassion-Based Programme for Cultivating Nonviolence in Teenagers: A Randomised Controlled Trial

“…Thus, the intergroup analyses indicated that ‘Unlearning’ did not produce significant effects compared to the relaxation programme in mindfulness, which suggests that both interventions promote improvements in mindfulness skills or that maybe these changes are due to maturation effects related to the passage of time. Previous studies have already found that mindfulness programmes do not improve mindfulness in teenagers more than active control conditions ( Huppert and Johnson, 2010 ; Schonert-Reichl and Lawlor, 2010 ; Tharaldsen, 2012 ; Rawlett et al, 2019 ). Some of these authors have suggested that adolescents may not have developed yet the abilities to successfully integrate and apply mindfulness skills that have been trained in relatively short periods of time.…”

“… Wang (2018) also used mindfulness along with other techniques to enhance nonviolence to the self in educators. In the case of teenagers, while some studies have not found significant effects of mindfulness and compassion-based interventions on violence-related constructs ( Huppert and Johnson, 2010 ; Schonert-Reichl and Lawlor, 2010 ; Tharaldsen, 2012 ; Wongtongkam et al, 2015 ; Rawlett et al, 2019 ), some others have reported promising evidence of the effect of such programmes on empathic and pro-environmental attitudes ( Jalón et al, 2020 ) and on constructs such as hostility, lack of social compromise, aggresivity and impuslivity ( Nelson-Gray et al, 2006 ; Franco et al, 2016 ; Salmoirago-Blotcher et al, 2019 ; Georgiou et al, 2020 ). However, these studies have been conducted on specific samples which do not represent the general population of teenagers, and other limitations, such as the lack of an active control condition or a follow-up assessment, imply that these results should be considered preliminary and that further research is needed.…”

Hierarchical Cluster Analysis Based on Clinical and Neuropsychological Symptoms Reveals Distinct Subgroups in Fibromyalgia: A Population-Based Cohort Study

“…In order to analyze the causes of the variability in depressive disorders, researchers have studied various patient subgroups. A study conducted by Broderick et al [38] found that 92% of FM patients belonged to the dysfunctional group, 81% came from the interpersonal distress group and 39% from the adaptive group had severe depression scores. Later, the study by Verra et al [39] replicated that study and found that the dysfunctional group had higher levels of depression than the interpersonal distress group and the adaptive group.…”