Benefits of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention upon School Entry: A Pilot Study

Adam Koncz, Ferenc Köteles, Zsolt Demetrovics and Zsofia K. Takacs
Additional contact information
Adam Koncz: Doctoral School of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, 1064 Budapest, Hungary
Ferenc Köteles: Institute of Health Promotion and Sport Sciences, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
Zsolt Demetrovics: Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, 1064 Budapest, Hungary
Zsofia K. Takacs: School of Health in Social Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 23, 1-16

Abstract: Background: mindfulness meditation is effective at fostering the executive functioning of children, i.e., the skills that play important roles in academic performance and social–emotional wellbeing. One possible mechanism for such an effect might be that meditation practices can decrease stress, especially if someone is at a risk for elevated cortisol levels, for instance, due to a stressful life event, such as starting school. Participants and methods: the present pilot study tested the effects of a six-session mindfulness intervention applied right after school entry compared to a passive control group. In total 61 first graders participated ( M age = 84.95 months, SD = 5.21) in this study from four classes of a primary school in Budapest. Repeated-measures ANOVA were performed to explore the effects on executive functioning skills and cortisol levels. Results: no effect was found on morning salivary cortisol levels, but the working memory capacities of girls significantly improved as a result of the intervention. Conclusions: a relatively short, story-based mindfulness intervention can improve the working memory capacities of first-graders; thus, it could potentially contribute to the academic performance and adaptation of children in schools.

Keywords: mindfulness; intervention; school entry; children; stress; cortisol; executive functions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/23/12630/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/23/12630/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:23:p:12630-:d:691759

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().