None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Mindfulness in schools programmes are increasing in use and aim to provide children and adolescents globally with the education to develop mindfulness skills (Burke, 2009; Harnett & Dawe, 2012; Zenner, Herrnleben-Kurz, & Walach, 2014). Research is, however, in its infancy for evaluating the effects of mindfulness on young people. The number of studies are growing, but the enthusiasm of the delivery of programmes currently exceeds the evidence for their effectiveness (Greenberg & Harris, 2012). A range of outcome effects of mindfulness training on children and adolescents research have evaluated cognitive performance (Semple, Lee, Rosa, & Miller, 2010), emotional regulation (Broderick & Metz, 2009), well-being (Hennelly, 2011; Huppert & Johnson, 2010), depression (Biegel, Brown, Shapiro, & Schubert, 2009), and blood pressure (Gregoski, Barnes, Tingen, Harshfield, & Treiber, 2011). Further research to evaluate specific outcomes may be beneficial to gain a richer understanding of the effects of mindfulness in schools programmes for children and adolescents. Therefore this study aims to evaluate resilience as an outcome measure specifically, to help establish a greater understanding of effects of this education and training with children. Resilience is an important process that helps in dealing with disruptive, stressful, or challenging life events, in a way that provides the individual with additional protective and coping skills. The development of children and youth to overcome challenging situations, can be assisted by encouraging characteristics of efficacy, self-esteem and perseverance (Lerner, Brentano, Dowling, & Anderson, 2002). This study aims to evaluate whether resilience can be increased by learning mindfulness techniques so that in the face of challenge or adversity, the involvement of awareness and control of thoughts and feelings are active, and positive relationships that encompass empathy and kindness are fostered (Hennelly, 2011; Huppert & Johnson, 2010). Beneficial results from this study, in collaboration with similar studies globally, may encourage and strengthen the use of mindfulness teaching in the mainstream education system in New Zealand and globally. This study aims to advance the understanding of the effects of mindfulness training on 11-12 year old children by administering a mindfulness-training course, the globally established nine-week ‘.b’ (dot be) programme developed in England, taught in a New Zealand school context, measuring resilience as the variable pre- and post-intervention, and comparing changes in resilience within the class. The design will employ a quantitative approach using current child specific resilience survey tools the Child Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM) and the Ego Resilience Scale (ERS) pre and post completion of the course.
Interventions
This study aims to advance the understanding of the effects of mindfulness training on 11-12 year old children by administering a mindfulness-training course, the globally established nine-week ‘.b’ (dot be) programme developed in England, taught in a New Zealand school context, measuring resilience as the variable pre- and post-intervention, and comparing changes in resilience within the class.
The ‘.b’ course is a nine-week programme that follows a teaching outline taught once a week for 30m
This study aims to advance the understanding of the effects of mindfulness training on 11-12 year old children by administering a mindfulness-training course, the globally established nine-week ‘.b’ (dot be) programme developed in England, taught in a New Zealand school context, measuring resilience as the variable pre- and post-intervention, and comparing changes in resilience within the class. The ‘.b’ course is a nine-week programme that follows a teaching outline taught once a week for 30minutes : Lesson One: Direct attention: Paying attention- Training the muscle of your mind Skills-Directing your attention, Exploring and investigating what you find Practices- ‘Aiming and sustaining’ attention on breathing for 2 minutes, Counting the number of breaths in a minute Lesson Two: Accept and Calm: Taming the animal mind- Cultivating curiosity and kindness Skills- Calming the mind by ‘anchoring’ it in the body, Relaxing and breathing with experiences, even difficult ones Practices- FOFBOC: A body scan with Feet on Floor, Bum on Chair, Anchoring your mind in the sensations of the body Lesson Three: Deal with worry: Recognise worry- Noticing how your mind plays tricks on you Skills- Recognising what our minds do that makes us worry: we Interpret, we ruminate, we catastrophise,‘Un-worrying’ via a 7/11, Using beditation to help us sleep Practices- 7-11, Beditation (lying down body scan) Lesson Four: Be here now- From reacting to responding Skills- Stepping out of ‘auto-pilot’ mode, Savouring the pleasant, Responding to the unpleasant rather than reacting Practices- .b, Mindful mouthful, Siting like a statue for 15 minutes Lesson Five: Move mindfully- Moving Mindfully Skills: Moving mindfully, Bringing mindfulness to daily activity, Aspiring to ‘flow’ or be ‘in the zone’ Practices: Mindful Walking, Mindful toothbrushing, Showering, eating etc. Lesson Six: Step back- Stepping back: Watching the though-traffic of your mind Skills: Seeing thoughts as traffic that flows through the mind, Identifying ‘thought-buses’ that pass through your mind, Recognising that you don’t have to ‘get on the bus’ of difficult thoughts Practices: Observing thought-traffic, Practising staying at the bus stop, rather than getting taken for a ride Lesson Seven: Befriend the difficult- Befriending the difficult Skill: Understanding stress, Recognising your stress signature, Responding to stress and difficult emotions rather than reacting to them Practices: Breathing with stress/ letting it be Lesson Eight: Take in the Good- Taking in the good: Being present with your heart Skills: Appreciation of what is good in life, Recognising how even the ordinary can be experienced as ‘good’ if we are more fully aware of it Practices: ‘Taking in the good’- Gratitude Practice Lesson Nine: Pulling it all together Revision: What have you found most useful? In what ways do these skills help change your life for the better? What advice would you give yourself to make the most of what you have learned? Taught by Dr Nick Penney, a .b mindfulness teacher of two years, with a background in adult mindfulness training for three years, The course is taught within school hours timetabled into the curriculum, each class lasts 30minutes and is conducted in the school classroom.
Sponsors
Eve Skogstad
Study design
Allocation
Non-randomised trial
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
11 Years to 12 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
*Enrolled in the school *Appropriate permission granted by under 16 years of age participants *Completion of both the pre and post survey results, with a minimum of 50% attendance in the mindfulness classes in the nine-week program. Previous mindfulness research with children has suggested noticeable changes in this time and many research papers have included a similar criteria. *English reading competency matching the level of the surveys, established by the class teacher.
Exclusion criteria
Parental or student refusal for the mindfulness class or for the research.
Outcome results
None listed