Mindfulness‐based interventions for improving cognition, academic achievement, behavior, and socioemotional functioning of primary and secondary school students

Abstract

This Campbell systematic review examines the effectiveness of school‐based Mindfulness‐based interventions (MBIs) on cognition, behavior, socio‐emotional outcomes and academic achievement. The review summarizes 61 studies and synthesizes 35 studies, with a total of 6,207 student participants. MBIs have a small, statistically significant positive effect on cognitive and socio‐emotional outcomes. But there is not a significant effect on behavioral and academic outcomes. There was little heterogeneity for all outcomes, besides behavioral outcomes, suggesting that the interventions produced similar results across studies on cognitive, socio‐emotional and academic outcomes despite the interventions being quite diverse. Plain language summary Mindfulness‐based interventions in schools have positive effects on cognitive and socio‐emotional processes but do not improve behavior and academic achievement MBIs have a small, positive effect on cognitive and socio‐emotional outcomes, but not a significant effect on behavioral and academic outcomes. The review in brief The use of mindfulness‐based interventions (MBIs) in schools has been on the rise. Schools are using MBI's to reduce student stress and anxiety and improve socio‐emotional competencies, student behavior and academic achievement. MBIs have small, positive effects on cognitive and socio‐emotional processes but these effects were not seen for behavioral or academic outcomes. The studies are mostly of moderate to low quality. Therefore, further evidence from independent evaluators is needed to be able to evaluate the effectiveness of this type of intervention. What did this review study? With the diverse application and findings of positive effects of mindfulness practices with adults, as well as the growing popularity with the public, MBIs are increasingly being used with youth. Over the past several years, MBIs have received growing interest for use in schools to support socio‐emotional development and improve behavior and academic achievement. This review examines the effects of school‐based MBIs on cognitive, behavioral, socio‐emotional and academic achievement outcomes with youth in a primary or secondary school setting. MBIs are interventions that use a mindfulness component, broadly defined as “paying attention in a particularly way: on purpose, in the present moment, non‐judgmentally”, often with other components, such as yoga, cognitive‐behavioral strategies, or relaxation skills training. What studies are included? Included studies used a randomized controlled trial, quasi‐experimental, single group pre‐post test or single subject design and reported at least one of these outcomes: cognition, academic performance, behavior, socio‐emotional, and physiological. Study populations include preschool, primary and secondary school students. A total of 61 studies are included in the review, but only the 35 randomized or quasi‐experimental studies are used in the meta‐analysis. Most of the studies were carried out in North America, and others in Asia, Europe and Canada. All interventions were conducted in a group format. Interventions ranged in duration (4‐28 weeks) and number of sessions (6‐125 sessions) and frequency of meetings (once every two weeks to five times a week). What is the aim of this review? This Campbell systematic review examines the effectiveness of school‐based MBIs on cognition, behavior, socio‐emotional outcomes and academic achievement. The review summarizes 61 studies and synthesizes 35 studies, with a total of 6,207 student participants. What are the main results in this review? MBIs have a small, statistically significant positive effect on cognitive and socio‐emotional outcomes. But there is not a significant effect on behavioral and academic outcomes. There was little heterogeneity for all outcomes, besides behavioral outcomes, suggesting that the interventions produced similar results across studies on cognitive, socio‐emotional and academic outcomes despite the interventions being quite diverse. What do the findings in this review mean? Findings from this review indicate mixed effects of MBIs in schools. There is some indication that MBIs can improve cognitive and socio‐emotional outcomes, but no support for improvement in behavior or academic achievement. Despite the growing support of MBIs for adults, youth may not benefit in the same ways or to the same extent as adults. While not well studied, anecdotal evidence indicates costs and adverse effects of these types of interventions that should be better studied and weighed against the small to no effects on different types of outcomes when considering adoption of MBIs in schools. These findings should be read with caution given the weakness of the evidence produced by the studies. The high risk of bias present in the studies means that further evidence is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of this type of intervention. The evidence from this review urges caution in the widespread adoption of MBIs and encourages rigorous evaluation of the practice should schools choose to implement it. How up‐to‐date is this review? The review authors searched for studies published until May 2015. This Campbell systematic review was published in March 2017. Executive summary BACKGROUND Due to educational policy initiatives over the last two decades, school districts across the United States have placed more emphasis on improving academic standards and accountability. Indeed, children are spending between 20 to 25 hours per year on meeting federal, state and local school‐district testing requirements (Hart et al., 2015). This increased emphasis on academic standards and high stakes testing has, at least in part, been blamed for the increasing levels of stress and anxiety children are experiencing (APA, 2009; Merkangas et al., 2010; Pope, 2010). In addition to changes in education policy requiring an increased emphasis on academic standards and accountability, schools are increasingly expected to attend to the social, emotional, and behavioral needs and problems of students. Given that as many as 13% to 20% children in the U.S. are experiencing one or more mental disorders (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013), schools are increasingly challenged to respond to the growing emotional and behavioral needs of their students. Moreover, socioemotional development and competencies have been linked to learning and academic achievement, and have thus become a target for school‐based interventions as a means of improving learning and academic achievement (Durlak, Weisberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schhellinger, 2011; Eisenberg, Spinrade, & Eggum, 2010; Zins & Elias, 2006). One approach to supporting improvements in socioemotional development and competencies that has received growing interest for use in schools is mindfulness‐based interventions (MBIs). Mindfulness is defined as “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, nonjudgementally” (Zabat‐Zinn, 1994, p. 4). Research suggests positive effects of MBIs for adults with chronic conditions, mental health diagnoses, psychiatric disorders, and stress (Chiesa, Calati, & Serretti, 2011; deVibe et al., 2012; Cramer, Haller, Lauche, & Dobos, 2012; Vollestad, B. Nielsen, & H. Nielsen, 2012. Moreover, studies suggest that mindfulness based practices may improve performance on a variety of socioemotional outcomes, including self‐regulation, stress, and mood disturbance (Cheisa & Serretti, 2009; Regehr, Glancy, & Pitts, 2013). There has been increasing interest in MBIs with children and adolescents, and schools are often seen as a convenient setting to implement MBIs with children and youth. Some of the more popular MBIs used in schools are Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR; Kabat‐Zinn, 1979; Bootzin & Stevens, 2005), Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for Children (MBCT‐C; Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, 2002; Semple, Reid, & Miller, 2005), Meditation of the Soles of the Feet (SoF; Singh et al., 2007), and Learning to Breath (LTB; Broderick & Metz, 2009). Despite the dramatic increase in the use of MBIs in schools to affect socioemotional and academic outcomes, little effort has been invested to systematically examine the body of evidence using rigorous methods, particularly for behavioral and academic outcomes of MBIs implemented in school settings. This review contributes to the literature by including the most recent research on MBIs in school settings, including outcomes that have not been examined in prior reviews of school‐based mindfulness interventions, including behavioral and academic outcomes, and employing stringent criteria for search, selection, coding, and analysis as specified in the Campbell Collaboration policies and guidelines to inform educational policy and practice and identify gaps in the current evidence base to guide future research in this growing area of practice and research. OBJECTIVES The purpose of