Mindfulness, Executive Function and Quality of Life in Hispanic Children

Background: Hispanic children, as the largest minority group among children in the U.S., attract research attention on their quality of life which is a comprehensive index of total wellbeing. Considering previous research pay attention to the association between mindfulness and quality of life, this study tries further to explain the mechanism and apply it to Hispanic children population. Using a sample of 96 Hispanic children from three elementary schools in New Jersey, this study tests the effect of mindfulness on quality of life through executive function.

Methods: Our sample were students from three elementary schools in the northern New Jersey area, we chose this area because of its large Hispanic immigrant resident communities. Our sample included four classes of 5th-grade students and three classes of 6th-grade students. By using self-administered surveys, 96 children with complete information were included in our final analytical sample. Standardized measurement instruments were used to assess variables of interest. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to estimate the mediation effect of executive function on the relationship between mindfulness and quality of life, after controlling for children’s sociodemographic factors (e.g., age, gender, immigrant generation).

Results: In the sample of 96 Hispanic children, their average age was 11.21, and about 53.12% of the sample was male. About 52.08% of the sample was first-generation immigrants. Mean score of mindfulness was 22.69 in the range of 0 to 40. Mean score of executive function was 106.88 in the range of 1 to 144. Mean score of quality of life was 69.22 in the range of 0 to 92. For all three measures, higher scores represent better level of well-being indexes.

 The SEM results displayed that mindfulness and electronic devices using are associated with quality of life through executive function (p<.05). Further, the direct path between mindfulness and executive function is undeviating from the hypothesized path, which means mindfulness is positively associated with executive function (p<.001). And as supposed, executive function is positively associated with quality of life (p<.001), while electronic devices using is negatively associated with quality of life (p<.001). The indirect path between mindfulness and quality of life is congruous with the hypothesized path, which means mindfulness is positively associated with quality of life through executive function (p<.001). Nevertheless, electronic devices using is negatively associated with quality of life through executive function (p<.05). Overall, the model had an adequate fit [SRMR = .011; CFI > .90].

Conclusions and Implications: The findings in this study endorse the conclusion that mindfulness and electronic devices using are associated with quality of life through executive function, and specifically, low mindfulness and high electronic devices using have a negative effect on quality of life of Hispanic children. This study is reconcilable with previous findings that mindfulness and electronic devices using are associated with children’s quality of life, which sheds light on intervention to improve the wellbeing of Hispanic children. Findings and implications for research and practice will be discussed in details.