Does variability across three universities in the implementation of a college course on human flourishing affect student outcomes?

OBJECTIVE: This study explores whether variability in the implementation of an undergraduate course on human flourishing is differentially associated with student outcomes. PARTICIPANTS: 101 students in the "Art and Science of Human Flourishing" course across three large, public, R1 universities in Fall 2018 participated in the study. METHODS: Formative course data included researcher observations of weekly class pedagogy, students' weekly meditation practice logs and end-of-course assessments, and pre/post surveys measuring changes in participating students' outcomes related to flourishing (e.g., attentional skills, social-emotional skills, perspectives on flourishing, mental and physical health). RESULTS: Although course pedagogy and student engagement varied across the three universities, students' outcomes were nonetheless similar. CONCLUSIONS: Variability in course implementation did not appear to differentially affect students' outcomes. We tentatively conclude that other institutions interested in offering the flourishing course may make limited adaptations to fit their pedagogical preferences without concern for altering its impact on students.

Cultivating Compassion for Self and Others: A School-Based Pilot Study for Peer-Nominated Caring Adolescents.

Many have called for school-based student programs that teach skills related to self-care and caring for others. Here, such a program for peer-nominated adolescents was developed and piloted virtually at one high school during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results of a longitudinal, quasi-experimental evaluation of the program showed high-quality program implementation and promising program impacts. Effect sizes indicated moderate to large program impacts on improvements in adolescents' self-compassion, sense of interdependence, and perspective-taking, and female adolescents' interoceptive awareness, compared to controls. No group differences in compassion for others were found. The need for more research on programs that help adolescents balance compassion for the self and for others is discussed.

Results from a pre-post, uncontrolled pilot study of a mindfulness-based program for early elementary school teachers.

BACKGROUND: Mindfulness-based programs are a novel and promising approach for supporting teachers' occupational health and well-being. Although rationales for mindfulness programs for teachers have been offered, the empirical research base evaluating approaches for educating teachers in mindfulness is still developing. This study reports the findings of a pilot study of a mindfulness-based program. This study is unique in that it is one of the only studies of the Mindfulness-Based Emotional Balance (MBEB) program to focus on early elementary teachers, to be implemented by a new instructor, and to recruit teachers via extrinsic motivators. METHODS: A pre-post, uncontrolled pilot study of a 27.5-h mindfulness-based program for teachers was conducted with 21 pre-kindergarten-third-grade teachers from the Pacific Northwest of the USA. Program acceptability was assessed based on attendance and teacher reports of program benefits. Effect sizes for within-person changes (from pre- to post-program) in teachers' skills and mindsets, well-being, occupational health, and teaching practices were calculated. Teachers also suggested improvements to the program. RESULTS: With regard to program attendance and acceptability, teachers attended 87% of sessions, with 58% of teachers reporting a personal benefit and 58% of teachers reporting a professional benefit of the program. Effect sizes for changes in teachers' skills and mindsets ranged from small to large, |d| = 0.30 to 0.83, and ranged from small to medium for changes in teachers' well-being |d| = 0.07 to 0.48, occupational health |d| = 0.14 to 0.39, and teaching practices |d| = 0.15 to 0.48. Teachers suggested shortening the program and linking it more closely to their work in the classroom. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the MBEB program may be beneficial to early elementary teachers, even when implemented by someone other than the program developer, and when provided with extrinsic motivation to participate (more closely mapping to a larger-scale trial of the program). Teachers' suggestions regarding program length and structure are considered, along with useful avenues for future research on mindfulness-based programs for teachers.

How is Mindfulness Linked to Negative and Positive Affect? Rumination as an Explanatory Process in a Prospective Longitudinal Study of Adolescents.

Research shows greater mindfulness is associated with less negative affect and more positive affect. Fewer studies have examined the mediating psychological processes linking mindfulness to these outcomes in adolescents. This three-wave, prospective longitudinal study examines rumination-the tendency to engage in repetitive and negative self-focused thinking-as one potential explanatory process. High school students (N = 599, Mage = 16.3 years; 49% girls) completed a short-form version of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, in addition to self-report measures of rumination and negative and positive affect three times over the course of a school year. Autoregressive, cross-lagged panel models tested reciprocal, prospective associations between mindfulness, rumination, and negative and positive affect, while accounting for prior levels of each construct, within-wave covariances, and gender and grade level. The results showed that the nonjudgment mindfulness facet (and the total mindfulness score) predicted cross-wave reductions in rumination, that in turn predicted cross-wave reductions in negative affect. No evidence for mediation was found for positive affect, or for any of the other mindfulness facets (describe, acting with awareness, and nonreactivity). This study provides suggestive evidence that individual differences in mindfulness, and in particular nonjudgmental acceptance, prospectively predict less negative affect through lower rumination.

On the role of mindfulness and compassion skills in students' coping, well-being, and development across the transition to college: A conceptual analysis.

In this paper, we aim to integrate the current conceptual approaches to stress and coping processes during the college transition with the potential role of mindfulness and compassion (MC) skills on students' well-being and development. First, we provide an overview of the issues and challenges emerging adults are facing during the transition to college, drawing on the revised version of the transactional stress model by Lazarus and Folkman (1984). Second, we introduce a conceptual model of adaptive stress and coping processes enhanced by MC skills to positively impact the appraisal and coping resources and emerging adults' mental health. Specifically, MC skills may play an important role in promoting a healthy stress response by strengthening emerging adults' socioemotional competencies and supporting the development of adaptive appraisal and coping resources, including processes antecedent and consequent to a coping encounter. In particular, MC skills were hypothesized to enhance (a) preparedness to cope, (b) productive stress response through adaptive appraisals and skillful deployment of coping resources, and (c) healthy postcoping reflections. Therefore, MC skills may be a useful preventive tool to strengthen emerging adults' ability to adjust to a new academic environment and fulfil the developmental tasks of this period.

Cultivating teacher mindfulness: Effects of a randomized controlled trial on work, home, and sleep outcomes.

The effects of randomization to a workplace mindfulness training (WMT) or a waitlist control condition on teachers' well-being (moods and satisfaction at work and home), quantity of sleep, quality of sleep, and sleepiness during the day were examined in 2 randomized, waitlist controlled trials (RCTs). The combined sample of the 2 RCTs, conducted in Canada and the United States, included 113 elementary and secondary school teachers (89% female). Measures were collected at baseline, postprogram, and 3-month follow-up; teachers were randomly assigned to condition after baseline assessment. Results showed that teachers randomized to WMT reported less frequent bad moods at work and home, greater satisfaction at work and home, more sleep on weekday nights, better quality sleep, and decreased insomnia symptoms and daytime sleepiness. Training-related group differences in mindfulness and rumination on work at home at postprogram partially mediated the reductions in negative moods at home and increases in sleep quality at follow-up. (PsycINFO Database Record

Mindfulness and compassion in human development: introduction to the special section.

Research on contemplative practices (e.g., mindfulness or compassion training) is growing rapidly in the clinical, health and neuro-sciences, but almost none of this research takes an explicitly developmental life span perspective. At present, we know rather little about the naturalistic development of mindfulness or compassion in children and adolescents, or the processes by which parents can socialize these positive qualities in their offspring. Thus, the goal of this special section is to showcase empirical research articles that redress this absence of a developmental focus in contemplative science by focusing on issues of construct conceptualization and measurement, socialization practices in families, and the role that interventions can play in fostering mindfulness and compassion in children, adolescents, and care-givers alike.

Mindfulness and compassion training in adolescence: a developmental contemplative science perspective.

Adolescence is a developmental period of risk, as well as a window of opportunity for cultivating positive development and thriving. It is characterized by simultaneous changes in the brain, body, mind, and social domains that offer a platform for building new skills and habits. This chapter discusses the role that secular forms of mindfulness and compassion training may play in fostering positive development in adolescence. The emerging discipline of "Developmental Contemplative Science" (DCS) is introduced, the theoretical and empirical basis of mindfulness in adolescence is illustrated in depth, and secular mindfulness and compassion practices for youth are portrayed. Last, this chapter offers an agenda for future research on connecting mindfulness to key developmental domains in adolescence.

Mindfulness training effects for parents and educators of children with special needs.

Parents and teachers of children with special needs face unique social-emotional challenges in carrying out their caregiving roles. Stress associated with these roles impacts parents' and special educators' health and well-being, as well as the quality of their parenting and teaching. No rigorous studies have assessed whether mindfulness training (MT) might be an effective strategy to reduce stress and cultivate well-being and positive caregiving in these adults. This randomized controlled study assessed the efficacy of a 5-week MT program for parents and educators of children with special needs. Participants receiving MT showed significant reductions in stress and anxiety and increased mindfulness, self-compassion, and personal growth at program completion and at 2 months follow-up in contrast to waiting-list controls. Relational competence also showed significant positive changes, with medium-to-large effect sizes noted on measures of empathic concern and forgiveness. MT significantly influenced caregiving competence specific to teaching. Mindfulness changes at program completion mediated outcomes at follow-up, suggesting its importance in maintaining emotional balance and facilitating well-being in parents and teachers of children with developmental challenges.