Patricia C. Broderick

The Effectiveness of the Learning to BREATHE Program on Adolescent Emotion Regulation

This study assessed the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based program, Learning to BREATHE, on adolescent emotion regulation. Participants included 216 regular education public high school students with pretest and posttest data participating in the program or instruction-as-usual comparison condition. Program participants reported statistically lower levels of perceived stress and psychosomatic complaints and higher levels of efficacy in affective regulation. Program participants also evidenced statistically larger gains in emotion regulation skills including emotional awareness, access to regulation strategies, and emotional clarity. These findings provide promising evidence of the effectiveness of Learning to BREATHE on the development of key social-emotional learning skills.

Mindfulness for Adolescents: A Promising Approach to Supporting Emotion Regulation and Preventing Risky Behavior.

This article reviews the contextual and neuropsychological challenges of the adolescent period with particular attention to the role that universal prevention can play in moderating the harmful effects of stress. The centrality of emotion regulation skills to long-term health and wellness suggests their importance in prevention and intervention efforts for youth. Mindfulness has been shown to be an effective means of reducing stress and improving emotion balance in research with adults, although research on mindfulness with adolescents is limited. The authors present available data and describe one potentially effective program for adolescent mindfulness: Learning to BREATHE.

Pilot randomized controlled trial of a mindfulness-based group intervention in adolescent girls at risk for type 2 diabetes with depressive symptoms

OBJECTIVE (1) Evaluate feasibility and acceptability of a mindfulness-based group in adolescent girls at-risk for type 2 diabetes (T2D) with depressive symptoms, and (2) compare efficacy of a mindfulness-based versus cognitive-behavioral group for decreasing depressive symptoms and improving insulin resistance. DESIGN AND SETTING Parallel-group, randomized controlled pilot trial conducted at a university. PARTICIPANTS Thirty-three girls 12-17y with overweight/obesity, family history of diabetes, and elevated depressive symptoms were randomized to a six-week mindfulness-based (n=17) or cognitive-behavioral program (n=16). INTERVENTIONS Both interventions included six, one-hour weekly group sessions. The mindfulness-based program included guided mindfulness awareness practices. The cognitive-behavioral program involved cognitive restructuring and behavioral activation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Adolescents were evaluated at baseline, post-intervention, and six-months. Feasibility/acceptability were measured by attendance and program ratings. Depressive symptoms were assessed by validated survey. Insulin resistance was determined from fasting insulin and glucose, and dual energy x-ray absorptiometry was used to assess body composition. RESULTS Most adolescents attended ≥80% sessions (mindfulness: 92% versus cognitive-behavioral: 87%, p=1.00). Acceptability ratings were strong. At post-treatment and six-months, adolescents in the mindfulness condition had greater decreases in depressive symptoms than adolescents in the cognitive-behavioral condition (ps<.05). Compared to the cognitive-behavioral condition, adolescents in the mindfulness-based intervention also had greater decreases in insulin resistance and fasting insulin at post-treatment, adjusting for fat mass and other covariates (ps<.05). CONCLUSIONS A mindfulness-based intervention shows feasibility and acceptability in girls at-risk for T2D with depressive symptoms. Compared to a cognitive-behavioral program, after the intervention, adolescents who received mindfulness showed greater reductions in depressive symptoms and better insulin resistance. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02218138 clinicaltrials.gov.

Working on the Inside: Mindfulness for Adolescents

Adolescence is a period of enormous physical, psychological, and social change leading to great opportunity along with some risk. This chapter begins with a brief overview of developmental strengths, vulnerabilities, and neurobiological changes during adolescence when physical and mental health disorders often manifest. Understanding adolescent development can help researchers and educators recognize the importance of prevention for reducing problems while also supporting a skill set that is a foundation for academic success. Social-emotional learning (SEL) interventions, including mindfulness-based programming, can teach adolescents skills such as emotion management, compassion, and purposeful, nonjudgmental attention, which are associated with improvements in academics, behavior, and well-being. These skills are beneficial for all adolescents; hence, school-based universal prevention programs are highlighted. Learning to BREATHE, a mindfulness education program, is presented as an example of a universal prevention program implemented and evaluated in school settings. Finally, the acronym, S.C.H.O.O.L.S., is presented as a framework for researchers and educators considering the implementation and evaluation of evidence-based mindfulness programs in schools.

Evaluating Student Cognitive and Social-Emotional Growth During a High School Mindfulness Course Using Mixed-Method Design

Between 2014 and 2017, an interdisciplinary group of researchers examined whether a high school health class that incorporated mindfulness techniques lowered students’ stress and improved their wellbeing. We received a grant from the Institute of Educational Sciences from the United States Department of Education to (1) train high school health teachers to implement the mindfulness-based curriculum and (2) study how the program impacted students. We examined changes in cognitive, social, emotional, and physical wellbeing indicators from before the course to after the course, using a quasi-experimental (intervention and control group with pre and post tests), mixed-methods (concurrent triangulation) design. Data consisted of student responses to psychometric surveys and interviews with a subsample of students. When we compared qualitative findings with quantitative outcomes, we discovered instances of different results through each method. This allowed us to provide explanations and context for certain outcomes. For example, the recent loss of a grandparent explained why one student scored high in social isolation. At other times, the two methods found two different “outcomes stories” from the same student. For example, a student reported in the interview that he was struggling with social interactions, but the psychometric indicators had him in the top quintile of social wellbeing indicators as compared to his peers. This case study discusses methodological approaches to mixed-method educational psychology research, the challenges of making sense of data from different sources, and the usefulness and limitations of mixed-methodologies for psychological outcome evaluations of student wellbeing interventions. We also discuss the process of working as a large group of researchers. This case is useful for students in psychology and education, and it is equally useful for early career researchers.