Do Not Keep Calm and Carry on: School-Based Mindfulness Programmes Should Test Making Mindfulness Practice Available in the School Day

Abstract

Recently, the largest test of a school-based mindfulness programme to date, the My Resilience In Adolescence (MYRIAD) trial, found that participating in weekly mindfulness lessons did not improve students’ well-being compared to teaching as usual, with low uptake of recommended home mindfulness practice. One potential explanation for the null result and low uptake is that adolescents might be unlikely to adhere to home mindfulness practice recommendations when choosing between mindfulness and their graded homework or more stimulating activities. Indeed, many studies of school-based mindfulness programmes have reported low adherence to home practice recommendations. Home practice recommendations also create equity issues, as many students may find it difficult to make the time for home mindfulness practice, a factor that is more likely to affect students who are disadvantaged. As such, we argue in this article that research needs to test whether school-based mindfulness programmes that make mindfulness practice time available in the school day result in higher adherence to mindfulness practice recommendations, and whether these programmes are effective at improving student mental health. Unfortunately, very little research has examined how much mindfulness practice is required to obtain meaningful effects. We summarise the small volume of mindfulness dose-response literature to provide guidelines for how much school-based mindfulness practice might be sufficient and provide suggestions for further testing. While making mindfulness practice time available in the school day may be difficult to implement, its efficacy is currently untested. Youth mental health remains a critical issue, providing strong justification for testing whether mindfulness practice made available in the school day results in better outcomes, despite the challenges posed in pursuing this research avenue.

You Can Lead an Adolescent to Mindfulness, but You Can’t Make Them Mindful

“…Recently, there have been a number of larger randomised controlled trials (RCTs) testing a universal approach with adolescent samples that speak to this gap. We broaden Strohmaier and Bailey's (2023) description of the most recent of these studies (Kuyken et al, 2022) to show a consistent trend across this combined body of work, and offer a suggested way forward that expands on their recommendations.…”

“…However, these analyses rely heavily on studies of low methodological rigour (e.g. non-or quasi-experimental design, short or no follow-up, allegiance bias, lack of replication, heterogeneity of intervention content and of outcomes tested or reported, and small samples, Johnson & Wade, 2021;Kuyken et al, 2022;Strohmaier & Bailey, 2023) which may have overestimated benefits (Volanen et al, 2020).…”

“…Across the rigorous experimental designs we have presented in this commentary, we believe the accumulated evidence suggests that adolescence may not the optimal time for a universal mindfulness approach. In their commentary, Strohmaier and Bailey (2023) allude to a current "crossroads" for universal school-based MBIs with adolescents following publication of the Kuyken et al (2022) study. They describe a split, where one group of mindfulness researchers believe that further investment into an at least ineffective and at most potentially harmful approach in adolescents may not be justified, while other researchers believe the approach to still hold promise when taught well in a way that engages youth.…”

“…Based on our collective experience not only in designing and conducting research trials but also delivering mindfulness in classrooms, we consider alternatives to Strohmaier and Bailey's (2023) recommendations, reflecting on seven reasons why MBIs in this age-band may not have been effective. Figure 1 shows a proposed range of developmental and structural barriers to MBIs in schools, and how combinations of these might differ across four age bands from preschool to senior secondary school, favouring implementation of universal mindfulness approaches in the pre-school and primary years.…”

“…A different approach is needed to engage conscript adolescent audiences. As described by Strohmaier and Bailey (2023), competing demands also escalate in mid adolescence, with increased academic pressure, extracurricular activities, more serious sporting commitments, part-time jobs, socialising and the pull of social media to fill any remaining down time.…”