Mindfulness training at school doesn’t seem to increase well-being or improve mental health in teens, according to research that found many students were bored with the course and didn’t practice it at home.
At a time when concern is growing about poor mental health in UK children and young people, researchers wanted to find out if a universal mindfulness intervention in secondary schools could help build resilience and have a positive impact on learning. well-being of the students.
Mindfulness has become a popular meditation technique aimed at focusing the mind on the present moment and involves learning to pay attention and manage feelings and behavior to improve resilience against external stressors.
While it has been found to help with symptoms of depression and anxiety in some studiesResearchers from the My Resilience in Adolescence (Myriad) trial found that extensive school-based mindfulness offerings were no more effective than what schools were already doing in supporting students’ mental health with social-emotional learning.
The research was based on a group of five studies, carried out over eight years by some 100 researchers who worked with 28,000 adolescents and 650 teachers in 100 schools. It typically involved teachers learning mindfulness on their own, followed by training on how to impart it to their students in 10 30- to 50-minute lessons.
While the evidence for the effectiveness of this approach among students was “weak,” the researchers found that it had a positive impact on the teachers involved, reducing burnout, and also on the overall school climate or culture, although these positive effects were relatively small. short. lived.
The study, from the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Exeter, King’s College London, University College London and Pennsylvania State in the US, was published in the Evidence-Based Mental Health Journal.
Professor Mark Williams, founding director of the Oxford Mindfulness Center and a co-investigator at the University of Oxford, said the findings confirmed the huge burden of mental health challenges facing young people and the urgent need to find a way to help.
“They also show that the idea of mindfulness doesn’t help, it’s the practice that matters.” The students who got involved got better, she said, but most didn’t. “On average, they only practiced once during the 10-week course. And that’s like going to the gym once and expecting yourself to get in shape. But why didn’t they practice? Well, because a lot of them found it boring.”
He continued: “If today’s youth want to get excited enough to practice mindfulness, updating the training to suit different needs and giving them feedback on which approach they prefer are vital next steps.”
Dr Elaine Lockhart, Chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Child and Adolescent Faculty, co-owner of Evidence-Based Mental Testing HealthHe said that children and young people were suffering after the pandemic.
“Mindfulness can be useful for managing emotions, but it will not be enough for those children and young people who need support with their mental well-being, especially after the pandemic.
“They will need a full range of services to meet their mental health needs, and getting help early is absolutely key to preventing mental health problems from developing or escalating in adulthood.”
Dr Dan O’Hare, Co-Vice-Chairman of the British Psychological Society’s division of child and educational psychology, added: “The findings of this study certainly suggest that there is a need to consider whether the mental health support we are providing to adolescents within of schools is fit for purpose.
“While mindfulness sessions can be very beneficial, it is important to understand that it is not a superficial intervention and that how children and adolescents respond will be affected by the context in which it is taught and the school environment.”
