"How I View the World Kind of Changed:" Examining Youth Experiences of a Leadership, Civic Engagement and Mindfulness Program Aimed to Improve Their Wellbeing

Background and Purpose: Mental, emotional, and behavioral (MEB) health interventions often target the individual level, but community and neighborhood contexts are key determinants of health. There is a need to develop and test MEB health interventions that support youth in changing their surrounding structural and social systems. This qualitative analysis is part of an ongoing randomized control trial examining the effectiveness of a youth leadership and civic engagement program with a mindfulness component designed to improve the MEB health of youth and increase their civic participation and leadership skills. Specifically, it examines the experiences of youth participating in an after-school Leadership, Engagement, and Youth Activism Program with Mindfulness (LEAP) in Boston, MA and Chicago, IL.

Methods: LEAP is a 14-session intervention designed in partnership with youth. In the first half of the program, youth develop an awareness of political institutions, social issues, and civic participation. In the second half of the program, youth develop a civic engagement action project. Mindfulness activities are integrated into each session. Data collection included post-intervention semi-structured interviews with youth (n=20) and adult facilitators (n=8) who participated in the LEAP intervention. The interviews focused on youth motivation for participating in the program, development of civic engagement and mindfulness skills, relationships with peers and adults, satisfaction with the program, and areas of improvement. The interviews were held on Zoom, audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. The interview transcripts were uploaded into NVivo and analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results: Youth were largely satisfied with their participation in the LEAP program. Youth reported developing skills in civic engagement, teamwork, leadership, and mindfulness. Youth identified feeling empowered by having the opportunity to meaningfully connect with like-minded peers and adults, identify issues in their community, co-develop a community project, and have a voice in their community. While youth initially felt awkward engaging in mindfulness activities, most youth endorsed using mindfulness skills outside of the program (e.g., at school, home) and sharing skills with people in their lives (e.g., friends, family). Youth also described the practical utility of mindfulness skills to calm their body, reduce stress, be present in the moment, and slow down after transitions during the day. Areas of improvement were largely focused on youth wanting more time to get to know the other youth in the program, conduct community field trips, and work further on their civic engagement action project.

Conclusions and Implications: Results show that the LEAP intervention provided youth with opportunities to develop civic engagement, advocacy, and leadership skills, as well as grow their social networks and connections to their community. The mindfulness content provided youth with new strategies to calm down, be present and manage stressful situations. Results show early promise that a youth leadership and civic engagement program with a mindfulness component can promote health and wellbeing for youth of color. Longitudinal mixed methods research is needed to examine long term benefits to youth MEB health.