The Effectiveness of a Teacher Delivered Mindfulness-Based Curriculum on Adolescent Social-Emotional and Executive Functioning
Frank, J. L., Broderick, P. C., Oh, Y., Mitra, J., Kohler, K., Schussler, D. L., Roeser, R., Geier, C., Berrena, E., Mahfoux, J., Levitan, J., & Greenberg, M. T. (2018). Unpublished Manuscript.
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examining230Students, grade11
Department-funded evaluation
Review Details
Reviewed: February 2019
- Department-funded evaluation (findings for Learning to Breathe (L2B))
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a randomized controlled trial with low attrition.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Growth mindset |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
4.13 |
4.01 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Emotion Regulation |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
2.71 |
2.74 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Sleep quality |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
4.50 |
4.47 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Anxiety |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
4.59 |
4.60 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Stress of school performance |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
18.18 |
18.17 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Somatization |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
28.22 |
28.01 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Social connectedness |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
4.13 |
4.16 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Mind-wandering |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
2.83 |
2.81 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Stress of peer pressure |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
10.34 |
10.06 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Mindfulness |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
24.05 |
24.48 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Self-Compassion |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
37.50 |
37.80 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Depression |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
5.34 |
4.89 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Rumination |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
3.28 |
3.11 |
No |
-- | ||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Emotional regulation: emotional awareness subscale |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
2.81 |
3.09 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Self-Compassion: isolation subscale |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
5.91 |
5.58 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Self-Compassion: over-identified subscale |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
5.81 |
5.57 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Sleep quality: reinitiating sleep subscale |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
4.91 |
4.84 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Emotional regulation: emotional clarity subscale |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
2.48 |
2.52 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Sleep quality: maintaining sleep subscale |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
4.51 |
4.46 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Self-Compassion: common humanity subscale |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
5.89 |
5.81 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Emotional regulation: impulse control subscale |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
2.72 |
2.75 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Self-Compassion: mindfulness subscale |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
6.59 |
6.55 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Self-Compassion: self-judgement subscale |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
5.48 |
5.45 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Sleep quality: falling asleep subscale |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
4.06 |
4.14 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Emotional regulation: emotional access to ER strategies subscale |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
2.73 |
2.63 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Emotional regulation: goal-directed behavior subscale |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
3.12 |
2.69 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Illicit substance use |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
-0.31 |
0.25 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Substance Use Consequences |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
3.37 |
3.61 |
No |
-- | |
|
Substance use initiation |
Learning to Breathe (L2B) vs. Business as usual |
1 Week |
Full sample;
|
1.33 |
1.23 |
No |
-- |
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Female: 43%
Male: 57% -
Urban
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Pennsylvania
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Race Asian 6% Black 16% Other or unknown 28% White 50% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 9% Not Hispanic or Latino 91%
Study Details
Setting
The study took place in two high schools in an urban school district in Pennsylvania. The study included students enrolled in 11 health classes taught by four health instructors. (p. 10)
Study sample
Twenty-three percent of the randomized sample received free or reduced price lunch, 9% of students were Hispanic, 16% were Black, and 50% were White. Males made up 57% of the overall sample.(pp. 10-11)
Intervention Group
The Learning to Breathe (L2B) mindfulness program is intended to improve students' emotional regulation, compassion towards themselves and others, tolerance for distress, and executive functioning skills. The program units cover topics base on the acronym "BREATHE", which includes their "body, reflections, emotions, attention, tenderness, habits of a healthy mind, and empowerment" (p.7). In this study, the intervention was delivered in 12 sessions, each of which included an introduction, group activities, discussion, and in-class mindfulness practice. Students were given CDs and workbooks to practice at home. (pp. 7-8)
Comparison Group
Students in the five comparison classrooms implemented the business-as-usual health curriculum. (p. 1)
Support for implementation
Health instructors who delivered the intervention received individual training on mindfulness exercises to help them establish a personal mindfulness practice prior to delivering L2B to students. These sessions included home work and journal writing to promote mindfulness practices. Teachers also participated in a two day training prior to implementing L2B, in which they were introduced to the curriculum, delivered practice lessons to small groups and received peer-feedback on those practice sessions, and received materials to help with time management and transitions when delivering the intervention. During implementation, teachers received weekly or bi-weekly feedback from an on-site coach. Finally, videotapes of classes were viewed either by the on-site coaches or by the program developer, and they used findings from these to provide feedback in 4-6 phone calls lasting about 60 minutes each. (pp. 11-12)
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
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Study findings for this report.
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Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).