Session: Systematic Reviews on Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Youth: Synthesizing Evidence to Inform Practice (Society for Social Work and Research 21st Annual Conference - Ensure Healthy Development for all Youth)

Over the past decade, we have seen growing interest in, and widespread adoption of, mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for a wide range of problems and age groups. While the evidence of MBI’s for adults is growing and pointing to positive effects on a range of emotional, behavioral and physical health problems, the effects of MBIs with children is not as well established. Nevertheless, MBIs are increasingly being adapted for and used with youth across a range of settings for a variety of problems. While the evidence for MBIs is growing, it is difficult to keep up with the latest evidence and to synthesize it in a meaningful way to inform practice as practitioners have limited time and resources to conduct comprehensive and rigorous reviews of evidence. Systematic reviews aim to comprehensively locate and synthesize research using organized, transparent, and replicable procedures in ways that reduce error and bias to summarize the best evidence for use by practitioners and policymakers. This symposium aims to present the results of three rigorous systematic reviews that quantitatively synthesize evidence of effectiveness of MBIs with youth to inform social work practice, policy, and research. 

The first systematic review examines the effects of school-based MBIs on academic, behavioral, cognitive and socioemotional outcomes with school-age youth. Over the past 5-10 years, schools have increasingly begun to adopt MBI’s through incorporation into the curriculum or as an adjunctive program. Despite the popularity and potential of MBIs to affect various outcomes that could positively impact school performance and behavior, the effects of MBI’s with youth remain ambiguous. This review used systematic review procedures to search, retrieve, select, and analyze studies that met a priori criteria. Findings suggest positive effects on cognitive and socioemotional functioning, but significant effects were not found for academic or behavioral outcomes. The mixed findings, along with the questionable quality of the included studies and gaps in the evidence, urges caution in continued widespread adoption. 

The second systematic review examines the effects of MBIs with youth who have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Effects of MBI’s with adults with anxiety have found positive effects on anxiety; however, it is uncertain whether the effects of MBIs with children will be similar to effects with adults. Five studies were found through a comprehensive search process and quantitatively synthesized to examine effects on anxiety outcomes. Findings suggest significant positive effects of MBIs on anxiety for youth who have an anxiety disorder. These findings suggest that MBIs as an indicated intervention for youth with anxiety are warranted.

The third systematic review examined the effects of yoga as an MBI with youth. Cognitive, behavioral and socioemotional functioning were reported in 19 studies conducted in school settings. Small, yet significant effects were found for socioemotional outcomes while cognitive and behavioral outcomes were not significant. Research with adults suggests that yoga as an MBI can serve as protective or preventative role in maintaining mental health; however, more research is needed to examine effects of yoga with youth.