Mindfulness Training Enhances Students' Executive Functioning and Social Emotional Skills

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Mindfulness Research

Background:

• The period before adolescence is critical for development.
• School-based mindfulness programs require further investigation in pre-adolescent populations.
• Understanding the impact of mindfulness on executive functions and social-emotional competence is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of a school-based mindfulness program on elementary school students.
• To assess changes in executive functioning and social-emotional competence using objective and teacher-rated measures.
• To determine if mindfulness training impacts cognitive flexibility and social-emotional learning grades.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 292 5th graders across 21 classrooms.
• An 8-week mindfulness intervention group compared to a wait-list control group.
• Assessment using computerized executive functioning tasks, teacher-rated social-emotional competence, and report card grades.

Main Results:

• Students in the mindfulness group showed significant improvements in cognitive flexibility.
• The intervention group also demonstrated enhanced end-of-year social-emotional learning grades.
• No significant difference was found in teacher-rated social emotional competence.

Conclusions:

• School-based mindfulness programs can effectively enhance cognitive flexibility in elementary students.
• Mindfulness training shows promise for improving social-emotional learning outcomes, as indicated by grades.
• Further research is warranted to explore the nuances of mindfulness effects on social-emotional competence.