Best Evidence in Brief: a systematic review on mindfulness in school

There is a new Best Evidence in Brief and this time it includes a review study that will spur some attention and/or discussion. I’ve noticed that a lot of people will call mindfulness a fad, others will argue that there is proven effect. So…

This Campbell systematic review examines the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) implemented in school settings on cognition, behavior, socioemotional outcomes, and academic achievement. MBIs are interventions that use a mindfulness component, broadly defined as “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally,” and is often combined with yoga, cognitive-behavioral strategies, or relaxation-skills training.

A total of 61 studies are included in the review, but only the 35 randomized or quasi-experimental studies are used in the meta-analysis, with a total of 6,207 student participants. Most of the studies were carried out in schools in the U.S. (74%), with some in Asia (5%), Europe (16%), and Canada (5%). The interventions ranged in duration (4-28 weeks), number of sessions (6-125 sessions), and frequency of meetings (once every two weeks to five times a week).

The findings show that MBIs in schools had a small positive effect on cognitive outcomes and socioemotional outcomes, but did not improve behavior or academic achievement. There was little heterogeneity for all outcomes, apart from behavioral outcomes, suggesting that the interventions produced similar results across studies on cognitive, socioemotional, and academic outcomes, despite the interventions being quite diverse. Overall, Brandy Maynard and colleagues found a lack of support at post-test to indicate that the positive effects on cognitive and socioemotional outcomes then translate into positive outcomes on behavior and academic achievement.