Skip to content

Impact of a mindfulness-based stress reduction program from the perspective of adolescents with serious mental health concerns.

K Jessica Van Vliet, Allison J Foskett, Jennifer L Williams, Anthony Singhal, Florin Dolcos, Sunita Vohra

Child and Adolescent Mental Health February 2017 DOI: 10.1111/camh.12170 (opens in new tab)

Read Full Text
Relevant Not relevant

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Qualitative study Peer reviewed
Sample size 28
Population Adolescents from a residential treatment center with serious mental health concerns
Intervention Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)
Duration 8-week program, with follow-up at 3 months
Topics Meditation
Keywords Adolescence Mental health Psychotherapy Qualitative methods
Key findings Adolescents in a residential treatment center described an adapted 8-week MBSR program as beneficial at the end of the program and at a 3-month follow-up. Six themes were identified: improved mood, enhanced relationship to self, increased self-control, improved problem-solving, awareness of the present, and enhanced interpersonal relationships. The authors suggest benefits across emotional, cognitive, and interpersonal functioning.

Abstract

While studies on mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) for youth have recently emerged, there is a shortage of research on how adolescents from clinical populations experience MBSR. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the impact of MBSR from the subjective perspective of adolescents with serious mental health concerns. Adolescents (n = 28) from a residential treatment center participated in an adapted 8-week MBSR program in which they learned a range of mindfulness skills and were encouraged to apply the skills to their everyday lives. At the end of the program and at a 3-month follow-up, the youth participated in semistructured interviews in which they were asked to describe the impact of the program from their perspectives. Basic interpretive qualitative analysis methods were used to code the data and to group the codes into higher level themes. Six main themes were found, including improved mood, enhanced relationship to self, increased self-control, improved problem-solving, awareness of the present, and enhanced interpersonal relationships. Results from this study suggest that the MBSR program was perceived as beneficial both in the short-term and follow-up in several aspects of emotional, cognitive, and interpersonal functioning.

Comparable studies

Other qualitative studies on meditation, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists Western Buddhist meditation practitioners and experts in Theravāda, Zen, and Tibetan... 2017 Qualitative study with mixed-methods
The Effects of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction on Nurse Stress and Burnout Nurses in a hospital system 2004 Implementation study with mixed methods
An exploratory mixed methods study of the acceptability and effectiveness of mindfulness -based cognitive therapy for patients with active depression and anxiety in primary care Primary care patients with recurrent depression or recurrent depression and anxiety 2006 Exploratory mixed methods study n = 13
A qualitative study of mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy for depression Participants in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in a mental-health context 2001 Qualitative study n = 7
Effortless awareness: using real time neurofeedback to investigate correlates of posterior cingulate cortex activity in meditators' self-report Meditators 2013 Qualitative study using grounded theory methodology

Citations in the library

Cited by 6

and 1 more in the library

Cites 8

and 3 more in the library

Related reading

Explore topics

Meditation