Philosophy for children and mindfulness during COVID-19: Results from a randomized cluster trial and impact on mental health in elementary school students

Abstract

Background: Preliminary evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on children's mental health. Given these problems can have significant impacts throughout the lifespan, preventing the negative repercussions of COVID-19 on children's mental health is essential. Philosophy for children (P4C) and mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) show promise in this regard. Objective: The goal of the present study was to compare the impact of online MBI and P4C interventions on mental health, within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We used a randomized cluster trial to assess and compare the impact of both interventions on elementary school students' (N = 37) anxiety and inattention symptoms as well as on their basic psychological need satisfaction (BPN). Results: ANCOVAs revealed a significant effect of the P4C intervention on mental health difficulties, controlling for baseline levels. Participants in the P4C group showed lower scores on the measured symptoms at post-test than participants in the MBI group. Significant effects of the MBI on levels of BPN were also found. Participants in the MBI intervention reported greater BPN satisfaction at post-test than participants in the P4C intervention. Conclusion:Results from this study suggest that, in the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic, a P4C intervention centered around COVID-19 related themes may be helpful to reduce mental health difficulties, that a MBI may be useful to satisfy BPN, and that both interventions were easy to offer online to elementary school students. Future work including a larger sample size and follow-up measures is warranted. Public significance: Practice: Philosophy for children (P4C) and mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) can be used to foster mental health in elementary school students, in the current COVID-19 context. Policy: As we do not anticipate that facilitators will be allowed in schools during the 2020-2021 school year and that children will, most likely, be attending school in the current COVID-19 context, policymakers who want to implement psychological support measures in elementary schools should consider an online modality, which has shown in this study to work well, be feasible, and yield positive results on youth mental health.

Child and Adolescent Psychosocial Support Programs Following Natural Disasters—a Scoping Review of Emerging Evidence

“…The studies identified by this review were carried out in different countries across Asia [26, 27•, 28, 29•, 30, 31], the Americas (four, with two interventions from the USA [32,33] and two from Canada [34,35], Europe [36•], Africa [37] and Oceania [38]).…”

“…The interventions were carried out between 2006 and 2020, although four studies did not report when the post-disaster intervention occurred (and how long after the disaster) or its duration. Four interventions were implemented while the COVID-19 pandemic was happening [30,32,34,35], two interventions were carried out within a few months of a disaster [29•, 37] and three interventions were implemented 1 year after the disaster or shortly after the first anniversary [26,33,38]. Interventions for child mental health were performed in response to pandemics-mostly COVID-19 [29•, 30, 32, 34, 35, 37], earthquakes [31, 36•, 38], floods [27•], hurricanes [33], tsunamis [31], typhoons [26] and volcanic eruptions [28].…”

“…The interventions identified in this review were based on a diverse set of frameworks, drawing mostly from therapeutic approaches like cognitive-behavioural therapy [27•, 32, 38], EMDR [36•], art therapy [35,37], yoga therapy, play therapy, child development [37] and group therapy [28,31], but also from mindfulness [30,34], philosophy for children [34], health promotion and education [29•, 33], communitybased interventions [33], coaching [26] and peer education [29•] (see Appendix 1).…”

“…Six interventions corresponded to level 1 in the stepped care model [26,28,[33][34][35]37] [27•, 32, 38], art [35,37], play [31,37], group therapy techniques [28], philosophy discussions [34], volunteering in the community [33], engaging in disaster recovery [33], and EMDR group sessions [36 •]. Most interventions had fixed contents, meaning they were designed to deliver standardised content in a standardised format [26, 27•, 28, 29•, 30, 34, 35, 37, 38], although researchers in one study reported that the frequency of sessions could not be kept the same across sites [26].…”

“…From this perspective, most interventions served to promote a sense of safety (N = 9), followed by calm (N = 8), connectedness (N = 5), efficacy (N = 4) and hope (N = 3). All the interventions that addressed connectedness [27•, 29•, 33, 37] and hope [33,34,37] were classified as either level 1 or 2 interventions. Some interventions also included additional components such as physical health aspects (sleep and exercise).…”