Promoting school success through mindfulness-based interventions in early childhood

Abstract

This study aims to assess the effectiveness of the mindfulness-based Mindkinder programme on school adjustment, school behavioural problems, and school outcomes in Early Childhood Education students. A quasi-experimental design of repeated pretest-posttest measures with a control group is used. The participants in the study were 118 students (55.2% girls, and 44.8% boys). The age of children ranged from 5 to 6 years (M = 5.69, SD = .37). The programme is implemented during school time. The results show that the programme promotes in the experimental groups a significant improvement in some school adjustment, school behavioural problems, and school outcomes variables. These results suggest that mindfulness programmes can be effective in promoting school adjustment and improving school outcomes in childhood. The implications of these findings are discussed, and recommendations for future research are formulated.