Harpin 2016

Source:   RESEARCH ARTICLE

APA Citation:

Harpin, S. B., Rossi, A., Kim, A. K., & Swanson, L. M. (2016). Behavioral impacts of a mindfulness pilot intervention for elementary school students. Education, 137(2), 149-156.

Author bio:

Scott B. Harpin – University of Colorado, College of Nursing

AnneMarie Rossi – Be Mindful, Denver, Colorado

Amber K. Kim – University of Colorado-Denver, School of Education & Human Development

Leah M. Swanson – University of Colorado, School of Medicine

Purpose:

The purpose of this pilot study was to test a 10-week mindfulness program that was integrated daily at the morning homeroom check-in with a classroom of 4^th graders and compared to a matched comparison classroom. 149

We hypothesized that students receiving the intervention will exhibit increased prosocial behaviors, regulate emotions, and show improved academic performance compared to those not receiving the intervention. 150

Findings:

Teachers reported significant differences in pro-social behaviors, emotional regulation, and academic performance within group and across comparison groups. Students also reported high satisfaction with the curriculum and gave examples of how they used mindfulness for emotional regulation and in classroom. 149

Methods:

2 18-student classrooms were chosen to participate; 18 in intervention group, 12 in control group 151

Instruments:

FasttrackTeacher Social Competence Survey

Child Assent Mindfulness Measurement Survey

Mindful School Survey

Intervention:

Mindup

Mindful Schools

Discussion:

Both students and teachers in the treatment group reported increases in positive classroom behaviors, emotional regulation, and academic achievement after receiving mindfulness instruction. Those students who participated in mindfulness not only saw dramatic increases in those classroom behavior outcomes, but also saw other tangible positive increases over control students. 154

Teachers speak of positive changes among children and also in themselves when mindfulness was a part of the classroom 155

Our findings confirm prior studies of the usefulness of mindfulness in elementary school classrooms but extends those benefits of the program to an urban setting with students arguably more at-risk academically and behaviorally compared to previous studies. 155

Mindfulness among youth can be an important component of a healthy youth development framework and contribute to resiliency among vulnerable youth who may be exposed to trauma. 155

A short course of mindfulness instruction was easy to implement in an elementary school classroom, with focusing sessions feasible in classroom participation time, even without a trained instructor. 155