Effects of school-based mindfulness training on emotion processing and well-being in adolescents: evidence from event-related potentials.
Kevanne Louise Sanger, Guillaume Thierry, Dusana Dorjee
Developmental science January 22, 2018 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12646 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Non-randomized controlled study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Older secondary school students aged 16-18 |
| Intervention | School-based mindfulness curriculum delivered by schoolteachers |
| Duration | 8 weeks of mindfulness training |
| Measures | P3b event-related potential (ERP) in an affective oddball task, self-reported well-being, doctor visits for mental health support |
| Topics | Depression Meditation |
| Keywords | Humans Electroencephalography Facial expression Emotions Happiness Event-related potentials, p300 Quality of life Adolescent Female |
| Key points | The P3b response to happy and sad face oddballs decreased between testing sessions in controls but remained unchanged in mindfulness-trained students, alongside increases in self-reported well-being and fewer doctor visits for mental health support in the training group. The authors suggest school-based mindfulness training may increase awareness of socially relevant emotional stimuli regardless of valence and may reduce vulnerability to depression. |
Abstract
In a non-randomized controlled study, we investigated the efficacy of a school-based mindfulness curriculum delivered by schoolteachers to older secondary school students (16-18 years). We measured changes in emotion processing indexed by P3b event-related potential (ERP) modulations in an affective oddball task using static human faces. ERPs were recorded to happy and sad face oddballs presented in a stimulus stream of frequent faces with neutral expression, before and after 8 weeks of mindfulness training. Whilst the mean amplitude of the P3b, an ERP component typically elicited by infrequent oddballs, decreased between testing sessions in the control group, it remained unchanged in the training group. Significant increases in self-reported well-being and fewer doctor visits for mental health support were also reported in the training group as compared to controls. The observed habituation to emotional stimuli in controls thus contrasted with maintained sensitivity in mindfulness-trained students. These results suggest that in-school mindfulness training for adolescents has scope for increasing awareness of socially relevant emotional stimuli, irrespective of valence, and thus may decrease vulnerability to depression.
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on depression, most cited first.