Mindfulness based intervention with an attentional comparison group in at risk young adolescents: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND

Risky behaviors are related to poor outcomes among young adolescents. This study piloted a mindfulness based intervention, Learning 2 Breath Mindfulness Curriculum, focusing on the feasibility of programming and intervention effects on coping, affect, and trait mindfulness among at-risk adolescents. Further, the mindfulness based intervention was compared to an attention intervention.

METHODS

Sixth-grade level female students in a boarding school for at-risk youth randomly allocated to either the mindfulness intervention ( = 12) or an attention intervention ( = 11) for six weeks. Outcomes (i.e., primary coping, positive affect, and trait mindfulness) were assessed before and after the interventions.

RESULTS

Intervention groups did not differ in demographics or outcomes at baseline. Twenty-two of 23 (95.7%) registered participants attended all of the sessions. Participants completed 86.4% of study tools. Separate repeated measures ANOVAs revealed no significant interactions among group and time for primary coping, positive affect, or mindfulness. However, positive affect did increase [(1, 17) = 10.675,  = 0.005, partial  = 0.39] over time for both groups and there was a slight increase in trait mindfulness over time (although not statistically significant;  = 0.095, partial  = 0.155]). Primary coping did not change with time.

CONCLUSION

The mindfulness intervention utilized in the present study exhibited feasibility in this population. Although preliminary, mindfulness based interventions may contribute to positive affect among at-risk youth in a boarding school. Limitations and future directions are discussed.