A 4-week pilot study of the pediatric version of the Headspace digital mindfulness application with 18 children aged 6 to 12 who have ADHD found that the intervention significantly reduced anxiety and sleep problems. Participants averaged 9.2 years old and were 78% male. Parents reported improvements on the Beck Anxiety Inventory and the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire from baseline to endpoint. The findings suggest that a digitally based meditation application could benefit children with ADHD who also experience anxiety or sleep difficulties.
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) plus treatment as usual, compared to treatment as usual alone, improved positive mental health in adults with ADHD at 6-month follow-up through increased self-compassion, but reductions in ADHD symptoms were not mediated by mindfulness skills or self-compassion. Additional analyses suggested that improvements in self-reported inhibition mediated the reduction in ADHD symptoms. The effect of MBCT on ADHD symptoms and positive mental health thus occurred via different mechanisms.