Benefits of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention upon School Entry: A Pilot Study.

Adam Koncz,Zsofia K Takacs,Ferenc Köteles,Zsolt Demetrovics

doi:10.3390/ijerph182312630

Abstract

Background: mindfulness meditation is effective at fostering the executive functioning of children, i.e., the skills that play important roles in academic performance and social–emotional wellbeing. One possible mechanism for such an effect might be that meditation practices can decrease stress, especially if someone is at a risk for elevated cortisol levels, for instance, due to a stressful life event, such as starting school. Participants and methods: the present pilot study tested the effects of a six-session mindfulness intervention applied right after school entry compared to a passive control group. In total 61 first graders participated (Mage = 84.95 months, SD = 5.21) in this study from four classes of a primary school in Budapest. Repeated-measures ANOVA were performed to explore the effects on executive functioning skills and cortisol levels. Results: no effect was found on morning salivary cortisol levels, but the working memory capacities of girls significantly improved as a result of the intervention. Conclusions: a relatively short, story-based mindfulness intervention can improve the working memory capacities of first-graders; thus, it could potentially contribute to the academic performance and adaptation of children in schools.

Highlights

Executive functioning skills are important skills in self-regulation and are necessary for organizing purposeful behaviour [1]
Contrary to the literature [11,26], we found no effects of mindfulness on children’s executive functioning, which might be due to the fact that the intervention we applied was only five sessions long and perhaps overly intense
Sex was used as a betweensubject factor in the analyses because we found children’s sex to moderate the effects of a mindfulness-based program on salivary cortisol levels in a previous study of ours [25]

Summary

Introduction

Executive functioning skills are important skills in self-regulation and are necessary for organizing purposeful behaviour [1]. They include three factors: working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility [2]. Working memory is used for short-term storage and manipulation of information. Executive functioning skills play an important role in academic performance [4,5]. In addition to school performance, there is a positive association between the developmental stage of executive functions and social-emotional skills [6]. These competencies contribute to the ability of recognizing and managing emotions, to be empathetic and cooperate with others

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Discussion

Conclusion