Research Review: The effects of mindfulness‐based interventions on cognition and mental health in children and adolescents – a meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry October 22, 2018 Darren Dunning, Kirsty Griffiths, Willem Kuyken et al. 596 citations
A meta-analysis of 33 randomized controlled trials involving 3,666 children and adolescents found that mindfulness-based interventions produce small but significant improvements in mindfulness, executive functioning, attention, depression, anxiety/stress, and negative behaviors compared to control conditions. However, when only the 17 trials with active control groups (1,762 participants) were analyzed, significant benefits were limited to mindfulness, depression, and anxiety/stress, with effect sizes (Cohen's d) of 0.42, 0.47, and 0.18 respectively. The authors conclude that mindfulness interventions can improve youth mental health but note that larger definitive trials are needed to confirm these effects and understand how they work.