Mindfulness training in school does not appear to increase the well-being or mental health of teens, according to research that found many students were bored of the course and did not practice it at home.
At a time when concern for poor mental health among children and young people in the UK is rising, researchers wanted to find out if a universal mindfulness intervention in secondary schools could help improve resilience and have a positive impact on welfare of students.
Mindfulness has become a popular meditation technique designed to focus the mind on the present moment, and involves learning to pay attention and manage feelings and behavior, to improve resilience to external stressors.
Although it has been found to help with the symptoms of depression and anxiety in some studies, researchers in the trial My Resilience in Adolescence (Myriad) found that the wide range of awareness in school does not it was more effective than what schools were already doing to support students. mental health with socioemotional learning.
The research was based on a group of five studies, conducted over eight years by about 100 researchers working with 28,000 adolescents and 650 teachers in 100 schools. It usually involved teachers learning mindfulness themselves, followed by training on how to deliver it to their students in 10 30-50 minute lessons.
Although 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 exhaustion, and also on the school climate or culture. overall, although these positive effects were relatively brief. 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 journal Evidence-Based Mental Health.
Professor Mark Williams, the found director of the Oxford Mindfulness Center and co-researcher at Oxford University, said the findings confirmed the enormous burden of mental health challenges facing young people and urgent need to find a way to help.
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“They also show that the idea of mindfulness doesn’t help, it’s practice that matters.” Those students who got involved improved, he said, but most didn’t. “On average they only practiced once during the 10 weeks of the course. And that’s like going to the gym once and waiting for you to get in shape. But why didn’t they practice? Well, because a lot of them found it boring.” .
He continued: “If today’s young people want them to be enthusiastic enough to practice mindfulness, then updating training to suit different needs and giving them a say in the approach they prefer are the next vital steps.”
Dr Elaine Lockhart, president of the children’s and adolescents ’faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, co-owner of evidence-based mental health, said children and young people were suffering after the pandemic.
“Mindfulness can be helpful in 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 soon is absolutely key to preventing mental health problems from developing or increasing in adulthood.”
Dr Dan O’Hare, co-chair of the British Psychological Society’s Division of Educational and Child Psychology, added: “The results of this study certainly suggest that we need to consider whether the mental health support we offer to adolescents within schools is fit for purpose.
“While mindfulness sessions can be very beneficial, it’s important to understand that this is not a superficial intervention, and the way children and adolescents respond to it will be affected by the context in which it is being taught and the school environment “.