Comparing the effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Children (MBCT-C) to traditional Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), for prevention of internalizing difficulties in upper Primary School children.

MBCT-C Children's Program Description MBCT-C includes many different activities designed to help children bring their attention to the present moment, as research has shown that this may have benefits such as reducing worrying or anxious thoughts. Activities include short meditation practices, and bringing mindful attention to eating, touch, sounds, sights and smell. Children are also taught through experiential exercises to observe and understand the link between their thoughts, emotions, body sensations and behaviours. The children's program implementation will be consistent with a 10-week program implemented in Primary Schools (Wright, Roberts, & Proeve, 2019), and this was based on an amended version of the original program (Semple & Lee, 2011). For reference, the key amendment was shortening the program (removing content) to reduce the program length from 12, to the current 10-week version. All changes were made in line with the program author's guidance. Children participate in 10 x weekly sessions, in groups of up to 12 children. Each session is 1 hr 15 mins, to 1 hr 30 mins. Program duration is 10 weeks. Groups will be facilitated by psychologists: 1 registered psychologist working with 1 provisionally registered psychologist. Psychologists will be supervised by a Senior Clinical Psychologist from the University of Adelaide. Children's session attendance is recorded according to the program manual (the "Being Present" board; Semple & Lee, 2011). A key part of the MBCT-C program is short daily activities for the children to complete at home, and parents are invited to assist their child with these home practices. They are usually less than 3 minutes per activity, around three times per day. Examples include mindful breathing, mindful smelling, and mindful listening. Children will be provided with paper copies of materials for each session, and home practices. These are sourced from the MBCT-C program manual (Semple & Lee, 2011), and will be provided in booklet format. MBCT-C Parent/Guardian Module Description: the module will have two main components. The first is an explanation of what children are experiencing in their weekly program sessions, and the opportunity to complete some of the practices as a parent/guardian group. This will include information about how to help children manage strong emotions, and how to help parents manage strong emotional reactions in themselves. Parents/guardians participate in 2 x sessions, held at the start and end of the children's program. Each parent/guardian session is 1 hr, to 1 hr 15 mins. The groups will include up to 24 parents/guardians, and will be facilitated by psychologists (the same psychologists who facilitate the children's groups). Hard copy materials will be provided. These will include materials sourced directly from the program manual (Semple & Lee, 2011). Parent's attendance will be recorded by facilitators during each parent session. Facilitators will report fidelity of implementation by completing a Session Feedback Form, one per session, per program. These forms were developed to assess Fidelity of Implementation in a previous RCT (Wright, Roberts, & Proeve, 2019). This include facilitators perceptions of whether children appeared to engage with home practices each week. References Semple, R. J., Lee, J. (2011). Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Anxious Children: A Manual for Treating Childhood Anxiety. United States: New Harbinger Publications. Wright, K. M., et al. (2019). "Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Children (MBCT-C) for Prevention of Internalizing Difficulties: a Small Randomized Controlled Trial with Australian Primary School Children." Mindfulness 10(11): 2277-2293.