A mindfulness prevention program based on acceptance and commitment therapy for adolescents: A feasibility study

The study was a quasi-randomised controlled study. Randomisation was conducted by a staff member of the school who was independent of the study using cluster randomisation based on their Tutorial groups of which there were eight in the Year group. Tutorial groups had a name and these were listed alphabetically and the first assigned to the mindfulness condition and the last four to the control condition. Randomisation was completed before enrolment in the study because attendance to the workshops was a required curricular activity for students. It was for this reason that there were disproportionate numbers in each condition and the randomisation was considered ‘quasi’. The control condition received the mindfulness workshops 5 months after the intervention group. The intervention is a mindfulness prevention program that utilises the ACT components of: Values, Committed Action, Contact with Present Moment, Acceptance of Emotions, and Thought Defusion. It was delivered in an amphitheatre at the school. The aim of each session was to educate the students on a particular concept (e.g. Values) and encourage them to apply the concepts to their everyday life. To achieve this aim in each session, verbal explanations, personal stories, metaphors, PowerPoint slides, videos, and experiential exercises were used. An example of an experiential exercise was the mindful eating of a sultana to help teach the concept of Contact with Present Moment. The lecture-style presentations were supported by four teacher-led exercises between the presentations, during class time and in a smaller group (approximately 15 students). Teacher exercises were based on the ACT components of Thought Defusion, Contact with Present Moment, and Values. All workshops and teacher-led classes were 25 minutes in duration. In total, students received 4.6 hours of the intervention. Workshops were delivered once per week for 7 weeks. A clinical psychologist delivered each session of the mindfulness program face-to-face to participants. The mindfulness workshop facilitator had 6 years of university training in psychology, including 2 years in a clinical master’s program. He had also received specialist training and supervision in ACT and had previously delivered the same material to a similar sized group of students in the same school. At the time of workshop delivery, he had approximately 2 years’ experience using ACT in both an individual and group context.