Mindfulness: Increasing Wellbeing and Reducing Stress in UK school children

Mindfulness – a mental training that develops sustained attention that can change the ways people think, act and feel – could reduce symptoms of stress and depression and promote wellbeing among school children, according to a new study published online by the British Journal of Psychiatry.

With the summer exam season in full swing, school children are currently experiencing higher levels of stress than at any other time of year.

The research showed that interventions to reduce stress in children have the biggest impact at this time of year.

There is growing evidence that mindfulness-based approaches for adults are effective at enhancing mental health and wellbeing.

However, very few controlled trials have evaluated their effectiveness among young people.

A team of researchers led by Professor Willem Kuyken from the University of Exeter, in association with the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge and the Mindfulness in Schools Project, recruited 522 pupils, aged between 12 and 16 years, from 12 secondary schools to take part in the study.

256 pupils at six of the schools were taught the Mindfulness in Schools Project's curriculum, a nine week introduction to mindfulness designed for the classroom.

Richard Burnett who co-created the curriculum said: "Our mindfulness curriculum aims to engage even the most cynical of adolescent audience with the basics of mindfulness. We use striking visuals, film clips and activities to bring it to life without losing the expertise and integrity of classic mindfulness teaching".

The other 266 pupils at the other six schools did not receive the mindfulness lessons, and acted as a control group.

All the pupils were followed up after a three month period. The follow-up was timed to coincide with the summer exam period – which is a potential time of high stress for young people.

The researchers found that those children who participated in the mindfulness programme reported fewer depressive symptoms, lower stress and greater wellbeing than the young people in the control group.

Encouragingly, around 80% of the young people said they continued using practices taught in MiSP's mindfulness curriculum after completing the nine week programme.

Teachers and schools also rated the curriculum as worthwhile and very enjoyable to learn and teach.

Same Sex Parents: Children score high on health and wellbeing

Australian children of same-sex couples fared better on average than families from the general population on measures of general health and family cohesion, but continue to be subject to discrimination, interim findings of a University of Melbourne led study has found.

Lead researcher Dr Simon Crouch, from the McCaughey Vichealth Centre for Community Wellbeing at the University of Melbourne said the early findings suggested Australian children with same-sex attracted parents were developing well.

"These children are growing up in a range of contexts and score well on measures of health and wellbeing in the face of discrimination," he said.

Simon Crouch

Early findings taken from the global index the Child Health Questionnaire, measured the health of the children across a number of domains including physical activity, mental health and behaviour.

Children with same-sex attracted parents were seen to score particularly well in the domains of general health and family cohesion.

The Australian Study of Child Health in Same-Sex Families (ACHESS) involved 500 children aged two months to 17 years from 315 parents.

The parents described a range of sexual orientations including homosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual and queer, and were from all states around Australian except the Northern Territory.

Interim results revealed:

• Children aged five to 17 years with same-sex attracted parents showed a significantly better score on general health and family cohesion when compared to Australian children from all backgrounds and family contexts. 
• For all other health measures there were no statistically significant differences 
• 80 per cent of respondents were female parents and 18 per cent were male parent, with two per cent of parents being of other gender. 
• Ninety-three per cent of parents are currently in a relationship. 
• Australian children with same-sex attracted parents and their families continue to face discrimination in a variety of contexts. 

The University of Melbourne led study, is the biggest of its kind to investigate the complete physical, mental and social wellbeing of children with same-sex attracted parents, and in particular the role that stigma and discrimination play in their health and wellbeing.

"There are an increasing number of children with same-sex attracted parents in Australia. International research to date has suggested that these children are doing well in many aspects of their lives, however they are often affected by the discrimination that their families may experience due to parental sexual orientation," Dr Crouch said.

"These results are promising and we look forward to further findings which we expect later this year," he said.