Healthy learning mind – Effectiveness of a mindfulness program on mental health compared to a relaxation program and teaching as usual in schools: A cluster-randomised controlled trial

• Published in: Journal of affective disorders Vol. 260; pp. 660 - 669
• Main Authors: Volanen, S.-M., Lassander, M., Hankonen, N., Santalahti, P., Hintsanen, M., Simonsen, N., Raevuori, A., Mullola, S., Vahlberg, T., But, A., Suominen, S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.01.2020
• Subjects: Adolescent; Child; Female; Finland; Health Education; Humans; Individ och samhälle VIDSOC; Individual and Society VIDSOC; Male; Mental Health; Mental health promotion; Mindfulness; Randomized controlled trial; Relaxation Therapy; School-based intervention; Schools; Finland; School-based intervention; Mindfulness; Randomized controlled trial; Mental health promotion
• ISSN: 0165-0327; 1573-2517; 1573-2517
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.08.087

•Comparative effectiveness of mindfulness over relaxation was examined in large RCT.•Girls and 13-year-olds seemed to benefit from mindfulness over relaxation.•Benefits among boys who continued regular mindfulness practice at 6 months’ follow-up.•Short 9-lesson mindfulness program in school context provides modest results.•Overall, no consistent effects on resilience, socio-emotional functioning or depressive symptoms. 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. 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). 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. The inactive control group was smaller than the intervention and active control groups, reducing statistical power. 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.