In mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), the quality of meditation practice—not just the amount of time spent—mediates improvements in self-reported mindfulness. Multilevel mediation models showed that better practice quality linked practice time to changes in mindfulness, suggesting that how one practices is a mechanism connecting practice duration with outcomes. The authors recommend future research on practice quality in clinical samples using intensive sampling methods and objective measures.
Fifth graders who completed an 8-week school-based mindfulness training showed significant improvements on a computerized measure of cognitive flexibility and received higher end-of-year social-emotional learning grades compared to a wait-list control group, after accounting for prior-year grades. The 292 students from 21 classrooms were randomly assigned to either the mindfulness program or a control condition. Teacher-rated social-emotional competence did not differ between groups. The results suggest that a brief mindfulness intervention can bolster cognitive and social-emotional skills during the transitional pre-adolescent period.