@article{ref1,
title="Impact of a combined philosophy and mindfulness intervention on positive and negative indicators of mental health among pre-kindergarten children: results from a  pilot and feasibility study",
journal="Frontiers in psychiatry",
year="2020",
author="Malboeuf-Hurtubise, Catherine and Lefrançois, David and Mageau, Geneviève A. and Taylor, Geneviève and Éthier, Marc-André and Gagnon, Mathieu and DiTomaso, Carina",
volume="11",
number="",
pages="e510320-e510320",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Fostering greater resiliency to stress, optimal psychosocial development and promoting better mental health and well-being in youth is an important goal of  the Canadian and American elementary school systems (1, 2). Recent research on  mindfulness and philosophy for children (P4C) has yielded promising results  regarding innovative interventions that may be implemented in elementary school  settings to foster greater child resiliency and well-being (3-5). Goal: The goal of  this feasibility study was to pilot a new intervention, which combines mindfulness  meditation and P4C activities, with the goal of improving mental health in  pre-kindergarten children, assessed with positive (i.e., social skills and  adaptability) and negative (i.e., internalized symptoms, comprises depression,  anxiety, inattention; and hyperactivity) indicators. <br><br>METHODS: A randomized cluster  trial with a wait-list control group was employed to evaluate the impact of the  combined MBI and P4C intervention on child mental health. Two classrooms of  pre-kindergarten children (N = 38, mean age = 4.6 years old) took part in this study  and were randomly allocated to the experimental or wait-list control conditions. Teachers completed pre- and post-intervention questionnaires. <br><br>RESULTS: ANCOVAs did  not reveal a significant effect of condition on internalized symptoms, controlling  for baseline levels. Sensitivity analyses indicated that for the whole sample,  internalized symptom scores were statistically significantly lower at  post-intervention, when compared to pre-intervention scores. No impact of group on  levels of hyperactivity was found, however, sensitivity analyses indicated that for  both the experimental and control groups, hyperactivity scores were statistically  significantly lower at post-intervention, when compared to pre-intervention scores. Finally, no impact of group on levels of social skills and adaptability were found. Sensitivity analyses conducted using paired t-tests did not indicate statistically  significant pre-to-post changes in scores for both variables. <br><br>CONCLUSION: These  preliminary results suggest that mindfulness and philosophy for children may not be  the most effective intervention to foster short-term resiliency, well-being and  better mental health in children. Yet, group differences were often small and past  research suggested the effectiveness of this type of intervention. Further research  considering the impact of moderators such as age or baseline levels of  psychopathology, using longer time frames and comparing the effectiveness of this  combined intervention with other types of school-based interventions with similar  aims (such as, e.g., P4C or MBI alone) is warranted, to evaluate if mindfulness and  P4C interventions have an added value compared to other types of interventions  implemented in school settings.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1664-0640",
doi="10.3389/fpsyt.2020.510320",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.510320"
}