A 12-week Mindfulness-based Social-Emotional Growth (MSEG) program improved emotional regulation among elementary school students in South Korea. Lower-grade students (grades 1-3) showed substantially reduced anxiety and depression, while upper-grade students (grades 4-6) demonstrated enhanced resilience compared to a control group. The quasi-experimental study involved 70 students in the intervention group and 72 in the control group at one school in Gyeonggi-do. Results suggest the program has potential for promoting early mental health when integrated into school curricula.
This registered clinical trial protocol describes a planned study of Heart-Smile Training (HST), a compassion-based meditation program that cultivates awareness of heart-area bodily signals (interoception), for people with depression. The study aims to test the feasibility of the intervention and research procedures and to investigate neurocardiac mechanisms, specifically changes in the Heartbeat Evoked Potential measured by EEG. Fifty participants will be randomly assigned to a 4-week HST group or a waitlist control. Outcomes include depression severity, EEG gamma activity, heart rate variability, and psychological measures of self-compassion, mindfulness, and social connectedness. Results are not yet available.