Mindup kindergarten
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a rise in stress, mental health concerns, and externalizing behaviors in children and their caregivers across the globe and illuminated the need to reduce stress levels and support self-regulation skills in even the youngest of children. Overall, there were no beneficial incremental effects of mindfulness when used in combination with intensive BT with regard to observed child behavior, attention and inhibitory control, or mindful awareness. In addition, parent-reported and child self-reported measures on mindful awareness were collected. Child behavioral responses were measured as teacher and staff-recorded frequencies of observed behavior. Children completed a variety of EF cognitive tasks at baseline and post-treatment.
The study took place in a controlled analogue summer program setting (STP) in which children were randomized to receive either the mindfulness intervention in conjunction with BT or to a BT active control condition. The current study is the first to evaluate the effect of mindfulness intervention in combination with BT on behavior, task-based executive functioning (EF), and mindful awareness in elementary-aged children with ADHD (N = 58). One such example is the use of mindfulness-based interventions which have been shown to improve attention, reduce maladaptive behaviors, and increase self-regulatory abilities among children in general education settings. Many other interventions are often used conjunction with or in lieu of evidence-based treatments for ADHD. Current evidence-based interventions for children with ADHD include behavioral treatment (BT), psychopharmacological treatment, and their combination. Furthermore, children with ADHD show marked deficits in executive functioning (EF) such as attention, effortful control, and behavior, and are more likely to have poor self-regulatory skills. The study suggests that mindfulness-based SEL intervention can improve psychosocial and behavioral outcomes in young children.Īttention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic neurodevelopmental disorder defined by pervasive symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. There were no gender differences regarding changes in any of the five study outcomes.Conclusions
Additionally, there was a significant decrease in executive functioning deficits among students who participated in MindUP. Teachers assessed the behavior of students (N = 584 intervention n = 261 comparison n = 323) both pre- and post-intervention with two measures: the Behavior Assessment System for Children, Third Edition, Teacher Rating Scales (BASC-3 TRS) and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool and Child Version (BRIEF-P BRIEF-2).ResultsStudents who received the intervention demonstrated an improvement in adaptive skills and reduction in behavioral symptoms, internalizing composite, and externalizing composite outcomes. We evaluated the impacts of a mindfulness-based social and emotional learning (SEL) program on behavioral problems, adaptive skills, and executive functioning among kindergarten students.MethodsA total of 23 classrooms were assigned to the intervention group, in which the teachers implemented MindUP, and 19 classrooms were assigned to the comparison group, in which the teachers delivered their classes as usual.