Compassionate mind training as school-based social and emotional learning: extension to younger pupils and effects of...

The transition from primary/elementary to high-school education is associated with increased mental health difficulties, especially anxiety. Previously, compassionate mind training (CMT) has been demonstrated to stem anxiety increases and improve prosocial behaviours in children aged 11-12. We extended this research by exploring CMT training effects via two further studies: (i) younger children aged 10-11, and (ii) a shortened/compacted delivery length with children aged 11-12.

We used a mixed methods convergent parallel approach, collecting both quantitative and qualitative data from 110 pupils (m = 56; female = 52; 2 = other) using randomised cluster-controlled designs. In Study 1 (S1), 60 primary pupils aged 10-11 took part in standard Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) lessons (control n = 30) or CMT lessons (experimental n = 30) over a 6-week period. In Study 2 (S2), 50 secondary pupils aged 11-12 took part in standard PSHE (control n = 25) or CMT (experimental n = 25) lessons over a 4-week period. Data collected included lesson implementation efficacy, standardized measures of anxiety, perfectionism, compassion, stress, wellbeing, and open-ended question data.

S1 Pupils reported positively on their experiences of the CMT lessons, content, and practices. Mixed-factorial ANOVAs demonstrated reductions in trait anxiety and increases in self-compassion and general wellbeing for the CMT group only. For the CMT lessons, thematic analyses further revealed that content and practices positively impacted emotion understanding and literacy, emotion regulation, and prosociality. S2 Implementation efficacy was considerably lower than in the previous research and S1. Mixed-factorial ANOVAs returned no significant interaction effects. Thematic analyses revealed that lesson content and practices positively impacted emotion understanding, regulation, and the classroom climate, but also highlighted challenges of compacted delivery.

This research demonstrated repeated efficacy of the CMT lessons with younger children, but reduced self-wellbeing effectiveness with same-age children when the number of delivery sessions was reduced. We argue that this is because social and emotional learning (SEL) requires time to embed, including repeated practice of the introduced knowledge, practices, and skills. Additionally, as a policy response to ongoing PSHE/SEL concerns in the UK, our research demonstrates an example of best practice methodology, balancing power, rigour, and mixed methods designs with ethical and moral requirements to minimise the potential for harm.