A variety of mindfulness-based programs are increasingly being used in schools to help support and improve students’ mental, emotional and behavioral health. A new study looks at the evidence about their effectiveness.

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is about living in the moment, not dwelling too much on the past or thinking and stressing about the future. It is about being completely aware of what’s happening in the present—what is going on inside and what’s happening around you. It encourages you to pay attention to your thoughts, your actions and your body.

Extensive research has identified a range of health and wellbeing benefits of mindfulness, including helping manage stress and anxiety, cope with serious illness, build resilience, and reduce depression. Mindfulness has roots in Indian philosophy and tradition, Hinduism and Buddhism but is not linked to any ideology. Mindfulness also has parallels to indigenous cultural practices.

Key concepts of mindfulness are captured in the three Cs: Curiosity—having an open mind, being nonjudgemental; Compassion—showing kindness and compassion toward oneself and others; and Calm Center—such as trying to take a step back in stressful situations, creating some space and objectivity. Mindfulness is not about fixing something that is wrong but feeling better and fostering better understanding of the connection between mind and body.

Research Spotlights the Potential Benefits for Students

A recent study highlights the value of school-based mindfulness programs for students, finding improvements in students’ thinking, resilience, emotional regulation and awareness, and overall mental health. The interventions were also associated with decreases in attention problems; stress; depressive symptoms; avoidance and rumination. The literature review was published in Psychiatric Services.

The authors, led by Tina Marshall, Ph.D., of research consulting firm Westat, conducted a review of studies on school-based mindfulness interventions published between 2008 and 2022. Of the 24 interventions that the researchers identified across 41 studies, three interventions were rated as having a high level of evidence supporting their effectiveness:

• Learning to BREATHE
• Mindfulness in Schools Project
• Mindfulness-based stress reduction

All three of these interventions incorporated components such as awareness of breathing, bodily sensations, and mental states, emotional self-regulation skills, and adopting a nonjudgmental attitude toward one’s present state. The Mindfulness in School Project and the mindfulness-based stress reduction programs also included seated or slow-walking meditation activities.

Three other interventions—MindUP, Gaia Program, and a program that blended MBSR and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (see references below)—had a moderate level of supporting evidence. These interventions also had activities to promote kindness, empathy, compassion, or gratitude and involved elementary school children.

“Families, students, and other community members may want to inquire about and recommend these interventions as a part of school health curricula. As mindfulness interventions become more widely used and extensively studied, they hold promise for fostering student well-being and mitigating the development of mental health conditions over time,” the authors conclude.

Three other interventions—MindUP, Gaia Program, and a program that blended MBSR and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (see references below)—had a moderate level of supporting evidence. These interventions also had activities to promote kindness, empathy, compassion, or gratitude and involved elementary school children.

“Families, students, and other community members may want to inquire about and recommend these interventions as a part of school health curricula. As mindfulness interventions become more widely used and extensively studied, they hold promise for fostering student well-being and mitigating the development of mental health conditions over time,” the authors conclude.