The Array of Outcomes Associated with Mindfulness Interventions in Schools: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Abstract Objectives Over the past two decades, mindfulness research conducted in school settings has grown rapidly, with a range of programs now in circulation. Given this burgeoning research area, the present review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of school-based mindfulness programs on student psychological, social-emotional, cognitive and educational outcomes.

Method: Published and unpublished individual and cluster-randomised trials, and quasi-experimental controlled trials, were systematically reviewed and meta-analyzed by individual outcomes. In total, 117 trials were included in the review, 62 of which were meta-analyzed.

Results: The included trials implemented various mindfulness-based programs with students across different grade levels. The meta-analysis produced small but statistically significant effects on depression (SMD = -0.08, 95% CI [-0.15, -0.00], p < 0.05, I 2 = 43%), mindfulness (SMD = 0.39, 95% CI [0.21, 0.56], p < 0.01, I 2 = 91%), emotion regulation (SMD = -0.20, 95% CI [-0.35, -0.04], p = 0.01, I 2 = 57%), and perceived stress (SMD = -0.20, 95% CI [-0.39, -0.01], p = 0.02, I 2 = 78%). More ambiguous results were demonstrated for student behavior and general wellbeing. No improvements were observed for student anxiety symptoms (SMD = -0.10, 95% CI [-0.21, 0.00], p = 0.06, I 2 = 69%). When corrected for multiple comparisons, only self-report mindfulness was significantly affected.

Conclusions: Following a comprehensive review of the evidence, the interpretability of the results was limited by relatively few high-quality studies and generally high heterogeneity across outcomes. Overall, school-based mindfulness demonstrates benefits for self-report mindfulness and some possible benefits for general wellbeing. However, given the lack of significant findings for other outcomes (particularly anxiety), further investigation of the relationship between mindfulness and anxiety in students is warranted. Increased methodological rigor in studies is also needed to enhance the quality of the evidence. Preregistration This study was preregistered with PROSPERO (CRD42023483894).