Mindfulness-based interventions in schools—a systematic review and meta-analysis

By Charlotte Zenner, Solveig Herrnleben-Kurz, H. Walach. Frontiers in Psychology, 2014

988 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Mindfulness programs for schools are popular. We systematically reviewed the evidence regarding the effects of school-based mindfulness interventions on psychological outcomes, using a comprehensive search strategy designed to locate both published and unpublished studies. Systematic searches in 12 databases were performed in August 2012. Further studies were identified via hand search and contact with experts. Two reviewers independently extracted the data, also selecting information about intervention programs (elements, structure etc.), feasibility, and acceptance. Twenty-four studies were identified, of which 13 were published. Nineteen studies used a controlled design. In total, 1348 students were instructed in mindfulness, with 876 serving as controls, ranging from grade 1 to 12. Overall effect sizes were Hedge's g = 0.40 between groups and g = 0.41 within groups (p < 0.0001). Between group effect sizes for domains were: cognitive performance g = 0.80, stress g = 0.39, resilience g = 0.36, (all p < 0.05), emotional problems g = 0.19 third person ratings g = 0.25 (both n.s.). All in all, mindfulness-based interventions in children and youths hold promise, particularly in relation to improving cognitive performance and resilience to stress. However, the diversity of study samples, variety in implementation and exercises, and wide range of instruments used require a careful and differentiated examination of data. There is great heterogeneity, many studies are underpowered, and measuring effects of Mindfulness in this setting is challenging. The field is nascent and recommendations will be provided as to how interventions and research of these interventions may proceed.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/0a3f4f2c6615039bb9c8fcf3d88bbbd4eba4163f

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Citations in the corpus

Mindfulness: Its Transformative Potential for Consumer, Societal, and Environmental Well-Being (2016, background): “Mindfulness-based interventions have been implemented, evaluated, and researched within the education system in order to improve not only the way educators and students deal with stressful situations but also to help teachers and students develop the skills needed to enhance resiliency and increase ”
Effectiveness of Mindfulness Interventions for Mental Health in Schools: a Comprehensive Meta-analysis (2017, background): “several years (Zenner et al. 2014), particularly in the school setting; therefore, a more recent analysis of these mindfulness interventions in schools should be considered to accurately represent the current effects of these interventions.”
McDonaldizing Spirituality (2017, methodology): “The recent meta-analysis of work in this field by Zenner, Hermleben-Kurz, and Walach (2014) concluded by noting that “analysis suggests that MBIs for children and youths are able to increase cognitive capacity of attending and learning by nearly one standard deviation” (p. 18).”
Implications for educational practice of the science of learning and development (2019, positive): “A meta-analysis of 24 studies investigating mindfulness training with children in school settings found positive effects, with moderate effect sizes, on cognitive performance (particularly attention), stress reduction, and resilience (Zenner et al., 2014).”
Neurodevelopment of the association cortices: Patterns, mechanisms, and implications for psychopathology (2021, neutral): “critical thinking (Durlak et al., 2011; Robinson, 2004; Zenner et al., 2014), as well as community-based programs that focus on environmental enrichment and the reduction of socioeconomic and racial disparities (Mackey et al.”
Mindfulness Interventions. (2017, positive): “…is the development of adapted mindfulness interventions for children, and some initial evidence indicates that classroom mindfulness interventions reduce stress, reduce aggressive behavior, and improve cognitive performance (Flook et al. 2015, Schonert-Reichl et al. 2015, Zenner et al. 2013).”
The math anxiety-math performance link and its relation to individual and environmental factors: A review of current behavioral and psychophysiological research. (2016, background): “Furthermore, considering that math anxiety shares some common features with other types of anxiety, interventions known to be successful for other types of anxiety, such as reappraisal [50], mindfulness [51], or exposure therapy [52], may also be beneficial in reducing math anxiety and demand empiri”
Mindfulness‐based interventions for improving cognition, academic achievement, behavior, and socioemotional functioning of primary and secondary school students (2017, methodology): “…been focused on adults, the increase in promising research based on the diverse application of MBIs with adults and the growing popularity of mindfulness with the general public has naturally led to the extension of mindfulness to the application with children and youth (Zenner et al., 2014).”
Mindfulness interventions in schools: Integrity and feasibility of implementation (2020, methodology): “Such heterogeneity in implementation is likely to detrimentally impact on outcomes (Felver et al., 2016; Zenner et al., 2014).”
A Systematic Review of Mindfulness-Based School Interventions with Early Adolescents (2018, background): “In the review conducted by Zenner et al. (2014) significant positive effects were documented in the group design studies, such as improvements in cognitive performance and resilience.”