Abstract
In a non‐randomized controlled study, we investigated the efficacy of a school‐based mindfulness curriculum delivered by schoolteachers to older secondary school students (16–18 years). We measured changes in emotion processing indexed by P3b event‐related potential (ERP) modulations in an affective oddball task using static human faces. ERPs were recorded to happy and sad face oddballs presented in a stimulus stream of frequent faces with neutral expression, before and after 8 weeks of mindfulness training. Whilst the mean amplitude of the P3b, an ERP component typically elicited by infrequent oddballs, decreased between testing sessions in the control group, it remained unchanged in the training group. Significant increases in self‐reported well‐being and fewer doctor visits for mental health support were also reported in the training group as compared to controls. The observed habituation to emotional stimuli in controls thus contrasted with maintained sensitivity in mindfulness‐trained students. These results suggest that in‐school mindfulness training for adolescents has scope for increasing awareness of socially relevant emotional stimuli, irrespective of valence, and thus may decrease vulnerability to depression.
Highlights
Mindfulness training was associated with maintained P3b mean amplitudes to facial target stimuli, indicating sustained sensitivity to socially relevant, affective stimuli
The purpose of this study was to investigate longitudinal changes in emotion processing in older secondary school students (16–18 years) after mindfulness training delivered as a module in Personal, Social, and Health Education (PSHE)
This non-randomized controlled study was the first neurocognitive investigation of longitudinal modulation in face processing in adolescents resulting from mindfulness training delivered by schoolteachers as part of a regular school curriculum
Summary
The purpose of this study was to investigate longitudinal changes in emotion processing in older secondary school students (16–18 years) after mindfulness training delivered as a module in Personal, Social, and Health Education (PSHE)
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