Executive function
Can classroom mindfulness boost young children's self-control?
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Young children whose teachers wove brief mindfulness activities into the school day improved more in mental flexibility and in teacher-rated attention than children still waiting for the program, though not on a test of inhibition.
Study at a glance
- Design
- RCT — Cluster-randomised wait-list design: whole classes drawn from a hat to start the program in the first term or after a term's wait; measured at baseline, end of term one and end of term two
- N
- N=91 · 91 consenting children (55 in program classes, 36 in wait-list classes); one child did not complete the executive-function tasks
- Population
- Children in Preparatory Year to Grade 2 at a single low-income regional school in Queensland, Australia
- Outcome
- Flanker task (inhibitory control/attention) and Dimensional Change Card Sort (cognitive flexibility) from the NIH Toolbox; teacher-rated Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire
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Key findings
On the card-sorting task measuring cognitive flexibility, children in the program classes improved more than wait-list children over the first term, and the wait-list children then improved once they received the program. On the flanker task measuring inhibitory control, there was no group-by-time interaction, meaning no clear program effect. Teachers rated program children as showing fewer overall difficulties, mainly less hyperactivity and inattention, and more prosocial behaviour, but there were no program effects on emotional, conduct or peer problems.
Methodology
At one Australian primary school, whole classes of children in their first years of school (Preparatory Year to Grade 2) were randomly assigned by a hat draw either to start a teacher-led mindfulness program called CalmSpace straight away or to wait one school term. The program included listening to a gong at the start of the day and after breaks, plus activities such as mindful eating, belly breathing, glitter bottles and cloud watching. Children were tested on two tablet-based executive-function tasks, and teachers rated behaviour, before the program, after one term and after a second term.
Limitations
Only a handful of classes at one school were randomised, the groups differed in gender balance, and children within a class are not independent, so the study is small and its effective sample is smaller than the child count suggests. The teachers who rated behaviour were the ones delivering the program, and the researcher who tested children also coached the teachers, so expectation bias is possible, and teachers may simply have become more tolerant of restless behaviour. The authors' discussion describes gains in inhibitory control, but the flanker result did not support a program effect. There was no active control and no follow-up beyond the second term.
How this study connects
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