Author: Volanen SM1, Lassander M2, Hankonen N3, Santalahti P4, Hintsanen M5, Simonsen N6, Raevuori A7, Mullola S8, Vahlberg T9, But A10, Suominen S11
Affiliation:
1Folkhälsan Research Center, Topeliuksenkatu 20, FI-00250 Helsinki, Finland; Clinicum, Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: salla-maarit.volanen@helsinki.fi.
2Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki Finland.
3Social Psychology Unit, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland.
4National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland.
5Unit of Psychology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
6Folkhälsan Research Center, Topeliuksenkatu 20, FI-00250 Helsinki, Finland; Clinicum, Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland.
7Clinicum, Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland; Department of Adolescent Psychiatry, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
8Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki Finland; Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki, Finland.
9Department of Biostatistics, University of Turku, Finland.
10Clinicum, Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland.
11Department of Public Health, University of Skövde, Sweden; Department of Public Health, University of Turku, Finland.
Conference/Journal: J Affect Disord.
Date published: 2019 Aug 28
Other:
Volume ID: 260 , Pages: 660-669 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.08.087. [Epub ahead of print] , Word Count: 259
BACKGROUND: Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) have shown promising effects on mental health among children and adolescents, but high-quality studies examining the topic are lacking. The present study assessed the effects of MBI on mental health in school-setting in an extensive randomised controlled trial.
METHODS: Finnish school children and adolescents (N = 3519), aged 12-15 years (6th to 8th graders), from 56 schools were randomized into a 9 week MBI group, and control groups with a relaxation program or teaching as usual. The primary outcomes were resilience, socio-emotional functioning, and depressive symptoms at baseline, at completion of the programs at 9 weeks (T9), and at follow-up at 26 weeks (T26).
RESULTS: Overall, mindfulness did not show more beneficial effects on the primary outcomes compared to the controls except for resilience for which a positive intervention effect was found at T9 in all participants (β=1.18, SE 0.57, p = 0.04) as compared to the relaxation group. In addition, in gender and grade related analyses, MBI lowered depressive symptoms in girls at T26 (β=-0.49, SE 0.21, p = 0.02) and improved socio-emotional functioning at T9 (β=-1.37, SE 0.69, p = 0.049) and at T26 (β=-1.71, SE 0.73, p = 0.02) among 7th graders as compared to relaxation.
LIMITATIONS: The inactive control group was smaller than the intervention and active control groups, reducing statistical power.
CONCLUSIONS: A short 9-week MBI in school-setting provides slight benefits over a relaxation program and teaching as usual. Future research should investigate whether embedding regular mindfulness-based practice in curriculums could intensify the effects.
Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
KEYWORDS: Mental health promotion; Mindfulness; Randomized controlled trial; School-based intervention
PMID: 31546105 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.08.087
