Implementation of a teacher‐led mindfulness program in a low‐income pre‐ and early‐elementary school as part of a trauma‐responsive, resilience‐building community initiative

Abstract

Children living in disadvantaged communities experience higher rates of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) which can lead to poor health outcomes. Mindfulness has been shown to help individuals who are exposed to cumulative stress build resilience and psychological well-being. This pilot study aimed to determine teachers' perceptions of a 6-week school-based, teacher-led mindfulness program in a Gainesville, Florida pre-and early elementary low-income school. The program was conducted as part of a trauma-responsive, resilient community initiative. Teachers were trained on a set of mindfulness skills and were asked to lead practices for 10-15 min per day, 3 or more times per week for 6 weeks. Teachers completed qualitative interviews to determine their perceptions of the program. A total of eight teachers participated, with 124 students receiving the program. Teachers reported high impressions of the program and that students were calmer and more relaxed as a result of the program. Training teachers to deliver mindfulness practices as part of their normal classroom activities is realistic, easily adaptable, and can lead to adoption of a communitywide mindfulness framework. Diffusing mindfulness programs more broadly as part of a preventive, traumaresponsive community has the potential to lessen the effects of ACEs.adverse childhood experiences, mindfulness, resilience, trauma-informed approaches, trauma-responsive community | INTRODUCTIONAdverse childhood experiences (ACEs) refer to a set of 10 childhood experiences that include physical, sexual, and emotional abuse; physical and emotional neglect; intimate partner violence committed against the child's mother or stepmother; substance abuse and mental illness within the household; household member who has been incarcerated; and parental divorce (CDC, 2010; SAMHSA, 2014). When experienced chronically, ACEs have the potential to cause trauma (SAMHSA, 2014). ACEs are common, with over 60% of the population experiencing at least one, and tend to cluster together, with approximately 15% of the population experiencing four or more, with most studies now focusing on the cumulative effects of ACEs (CDC, 2010). As score on the ACEs questionnaire increases, the individual's risk of life course morbidity, mortality, and adverse social outcomes increases, with more ACEs being associated with increased severity of the outcome (CDC, 2010). A systematic review of outcomes associated with ACEs identified a wide array of psychosocial and behavioral effects, such as tobacco use, alcohol problems, risky sexual behaviors and depression, as well as poor medical outcomes, including respiratory disease, sleep problems, diabetes and ischemic heart disease (Petruccelli et al., 2019). Felitti et al. (1998) first explored the relationship between ACEs and health risk behaviors and diseases in adulthood and found that more than half of respondents reported at least one ACE and one fourth reported two or more. The landmark study found a dose-response relationship, with those who had reporte...

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