Author, as appears in the article.: Folch, Annabel; Gasol, Laia; Heredia, Luis; Vicens, Paloma; Torrente, Margarita
Department: Psicologia
URV's Author/s: Heredia Santaella, Luis / Torrente Torné, Margarita / Vicens Calderón, Paloma
Keywords: Teacher Stress reduction Quality Primary schools Neuroscience Mindfulness Meditation Interventions Executive functions Executive function Early-childhood Children Benefits Anxiety
Abstract: Mindfulness has attracted considerable attention in educational settings as it can have positive effects on children. However, the role of mindfulness practice in schools has yet to be understood. The aim of the present study is to assess the impact of mindfulness on neuropsychological performance and psychological well-being of primary school children. It also aims to explore the teacher's mindfulness training effect on the intervention. The present study recruited 100 children (64% girls and 36% boys) aged 9-11 from a primary school in Tarragona (Spain). The research was conducted between 2016-2018 with three experimental groups: a mindfulness intervention group with a trained mindfulness teacher, a mindfulness intervention group with a non-trained mindfulness teacher, and a control group. All groups were evaluated before and after a 13-weeks intervention, consisting of 5-10 min mindfulness daily sessions before class. After the intervention, the two groups of children receiving mindfulness sessions performed better than controls in several neuropsychological tasks involving executive functions, such as short-term and working memory, learning, mental flexibility, visuospatial abilities and processing speed. No significant differences were found in the assessment of daily stress or emotional and behavioural problems. The findings of the present study can contribute to a better understanding of the role of mindfulness practice in primary children regarding neuropsychological performance, highlighting the importance of the teacher's mindfulness training in the teaching/learning process.
Thematic Areas: Psychology, multidisciplinary Psychology (miscellaneous) Psychology (all) Psicología General psychology Enfermagem Ciencias sociales
licence for use: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
Author's mail: luis.heredia@urv.cat paloma.vicens@urv.cat luis.heredia@urv.cat margarita.torrente@urv.cat
Author identifier: 0000-0001-9330-9418 0000-0003-0732-5070 0000-0001-9330-9418 0000-0002-8901-6345
Record's date: 2024-10-12
Papper version: info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Link to the original source: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-021-02572-z
Licence document URL: https://repositori.urv.cat/ca/proteccio-de-dades/
Papper original source: Current Psychology. 42 (14): 12118-12128
APA: Folch, Annabel; Gasol, Laia; Heredia, Luis; Vicens, Paloma; Torrente, Margarita (2023). Mindful schools: Neuropsychological performance after the implementation of a mindfulness-based structured program in the school setting. Current Psychology, 42(14), 12118-12128. DOI: 10.1007/s12144-021-02572-z
Article's DOI: 10.1007/s12144-021-02572-z
Entity: Universitat Rovira i Virgili
Journal publication year: 2023
Publication Type: Journal Publications