Abstract
Several sessions of mindfulness practice can exert positive gains for child executive functions (EF); however, the evidence for effects of a mindfulness induction, on EF for adults, is mixed and this effect has not been tested in children. The immediate effect of an age appropriate 3-min mindfulness induction on EF of children aged 4–7 years was tested. Participants (N = 156) were randomly assigned to a mindfulness induction or dot-to-dot activity comparison group before completing four measures of EF. A composite score for EF was calculated from summed z scores of the four EF measures. A difference at baseline in behavioural difficulties between the mindfulness induction and comparison group meant that data was analysed using a hierarchical regression. The mindfulness induction resulted in higher average performance for the composite EF score (M = 0.12) compared to the comparison group (M = − 0.05). Behavioural difficulties significantly predicted 5.3% of the variance in EF performance but participation in the mindfulness or comparison induction did not significantly affect EF. The non-significant effect of a mindfulness induction to exert immediate effects on EF fits within broader evidence reporting mixed effects when similar experimental designs have been used with adults. The findings are discussed with consideration of the extent to which methodological differences may account for these mixed effects and how mindfulness inductions fit within broader theoretical and empirical understanding of the effects of mindfulness on EF.
Highlights
Several sessions of mindfulness practice can exert positive gains for child executive functions (EF); the evidence for effects of a mindfulness induction, on EF for adults, is mixed and this effect has not been tested in children
The current study tested whether a 3-min mindfulness induction could exert an immediate effect on EF in children aged 4– 7 years
This outcome does not support our hypothesis that a mindfulness induction would exert an immediate benefit on EF; the null findings are in line with current conflicting evidence for an immediate effect of a mindfulness induction on EF in adults
Summary
Several sessions of mindfulness practice can exert positive gains for child executive functions (EF); the evidence for effects of a mindfulness induction, on EF for adults, is mixed and this effect has not been tested in children. Mindfulness (2018) 9:1807–1815 but not accuracy for two behavioural measures of EF (Schonert-Reichl et al 2015) Another 12-week MBI was compared to a waitlist control group on three measures of EF and found no significant differences between groups (Flook et al 2015). An 8-week MBI (90 min weekly plus home practice) delivered to children and their parents reported greater gains on attention regulation for children in the mindfulness group compared to a waitlist control (Felver et al 2017). The evidence suggests mindfulness may exert an effect on EF in children when reaction times are measured, when baseline EF is low and for attention regulation. There is growing understanding of the effects of MBI on EF; less is known about the dose effect of mindfulness training and whether experimental inductions of mindfulness can produce effects
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