<p>ABSTRACT Poor sleep is common in substance use disorders (SUDs) and is a risk factor for relapse. Within the context of a multicomponent, mindfulness-based sleep intervention that included mindfulness meditation (MM) for adolescent outpatients with SUDs (n = 55), this analysis assessed the contributions of MM practice intensity to gains in sleep quality and self-efficacy related to SUDs. Eighteen adolescents completed a 6-session study intervention and questionnaires on psychological distress, sleep quality, mindfulness practice, and substance use at baseline, 8, 20, and 60 weeks postentry. Program participation was associated with improvements in sleep and emotional distress, and reduced substance use. MM practice frequency correlated with increased sleep duration and improvement in self-efficacy about substance use. Increased sleep duration was associated with improvements in psychological distress, relapse resistance, and substance use–related problems. These findings suggest that sleep is an important therapeutic target in substance abusing adolescents and that MM may be a useful component to promote improved sleep.</p>
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Poor sleep is common in substance use disorders (SUDs) and is a risk factor for relapse. Within the context of a multicomponent, mindfulness-based sleep intervention that included mindfulness meditation (MM) for adolescent outpatients with SUDs (n = 55), this analysis assessed the contributions of MM practice intensity to gains in sleep quality and self-efficacy related to SUDs. Eighteen adolescents completed a 6-session study intervention and questionnaires on psychological distress, sleep quality, mindfulness practice, and substance use at baseline, 8, 20, and 60 weeks postentry. Program participation was associated with improvements in sleep and emotional distress, and reduced substance use. MM practice frequency correlated with increased sleep duration and improvement in self-efficacy about substance use. Increased sleep duration was associated with improvements in psychological distress, relapse resistance, and substance use-related problems. These findings suggest that sleep is an important therapeutic target in substance abusing adolescents and that MM may be a useful component to promote improved sleep.
Poor sleep is common in substance use disorders (SUDs) and is a risk factor for relapse. Within the context of a multicomponent, mindfulness-based sleep intervention that included mindfulness meditation (MM) for adolescent outpatients with SUDs (n = 55), this analysis assessed the contributions of MM practice intensity to gains in sleep quality and self-efficacy related to SUDs. Eighteen adolescents completed a 6-session study intervention and questionnaires on psychological distress, sleep quality, mindfulness practice, and substance use at baseline, 8, 20, and 60 weeks postentry. Program participation was associated with improvements in sleep and emotional distress, and reduced substance use. MM practice frequency correlated with increased sleep duration and improvement in self-efficacy about substance use. Increased sleep duration was associated with improvements in psychological distress, relapse resistance, and substance use-related problems. These findings suggest that sleep is an important therapeutic target in substance abusing adolescents and that MM may be a useful component to promote improved sleep.
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Many schools attempt to implement multiple programs to promote positive young adolescent development; however, these programs are often fragmented and lack coordination. The authors describe an initiative designed to help schools coordinate their social-emotional and character development (SECD) efforts to improve school climate and help students build character increase academic performance. They provide a specific example of how one urban middle school coordinated its SECD programs and discuss outcomes related to student performance and school climate. (Contains 3 figures.)
It is not surprising that smoking abstinence rates are low given that smoking cessation is associated with increases in negative affect and stress that can persist for months. Mindfulness is one factor that has been broadly linked with enhanced emotional regulation. This study examined baseline associations of self-reported trait mindfulness with psychological stress, negative affect, positive affect, and depression among 158 smokers enrolled in a smoking cessation treatment trial. Several coping dimensions were evaluated as potential mediators of these associations. Results indicated that mindfulness was negatively associated with psychological stress, negative affect, and depression and positively associated with positive affect. Furthermore, the use of relaxation as a coping strategy independently mediated the association of mindfulness with psychological stress, positive affect, and depression. The robust and consistent pattern that emerged suggests that greater mindfulness may facilitate cessation and attenuate vulnerability to relapse among smokers preparing for cessation. Furthermore, relaxation appears to be a key mechanism underlying these associations.
It is not surprising that smoking abstinence rates are low given that smoking cessation is associated with increases in negative affect and stress that can persist for months. Mindfulness is one factor that has been broadly linked with enhanced emotional regulation. This study examined baseline associations of self-reported trait mindfulness with psychological stress, negative affect, positive affect, and depression among 158 smokers enrolled in a smoking cessation treatment trial. Several coping dimensions were evaluated as potential mediators of these associations. Results indicated that mindfulness was negatively associated with psychological stress, negative affect, and depression and positively associated with positive affect. Furthermore, the use of relaxation as a coping strategy independently mediated the association of mindfulness with psychological stress, positive affect, and depression. The robust and consistent pattern that emerged suggests that greater mindfulness may facilitate cessation and attenuate vulnerability to relapse among smokers preparing for cessation. Furthermore, relaxation appears to be a key mechanism underlying these associations.
This chapter contains sections titled:Egosystem Motivation, Implications for Self-Regulation, Contingencies of Self-Worth and Self-Regulation, Self-Image Goals and Self-Regulation, Contingencies of Self-Worth and Self-Image Goals, Compassionate Goals and Self-Regulation, Future Directions, Conclusions, References
In the last few decades, mindfulness meditation has gained prominence as an adjunctive psychotherapeutic technique. In fact, a vast literature of controlled studies has found that mindfulness meditation is related to improved mental health across a variety of disorders. Elucidating the components involved in mindfulness meditation’s positive impact on psychological well-being is an important step in more precisely identifying the populations that would most benefit from its therapeutic utilization. Yet, a consensus regarding the particular underlying mechanisms that contribute to these outcomes is very much limited. There are many reasons for this, including the inconsistent operationalization and use of mindfulness meditation across research investigations. Despite the elusive mechanisms, many studies seem to indicate that cultivating different aspects of attention is a feasible, consistent, and parsimonious starting point bridging mindfulness practice and psychological well-being. Attention in itself is a complex construct. It comprises different networks, including alerting, orienting, and executive attention, and is also explained in terms of the way it is regulated. This paper supports a previously suggested idea that cultivating all aspects of attention through mindfulness meditation leads to greater psychological well-being through decreased ruminative processes. Ruminative processes are decreased by engaging in both focused and receptive attention, which foster the ability to distract and decenter.
The study reported in this book surveyed (in 2004) more than 112,000 freshmen as they enrolled in 236 public and private (religiously affiliated and non-religiously affiliated) colleges and universities, and then followed up (in 2007) 14,527 of these students (at 136 institutions) as they were completing their junior year. The faculty in these colleges were surveyed as well, and personal interviews with selected students and their professors were also conducted.
In their Bachelor degree, Early Childhood Pre-service teachers undertake art(s)making and online journaling (blogging) to chronicle the process and thinking through the problem of themselves in relation to their world. They express and challenge their own thoughts and ideas regarding their daily lives and those of the children in their future classrooms. The article is presented as a Case Study with the outcomes of the process of the assessment task and the resulting artwork through two student experiences from different cultural backgrounds who produced artworks using different processes and deep reflections about their lives. The sharing of the reflections through the blogs produced learning within the class as other students came to understand and see life and culture from other perspectives. Students should be given the opportunity to share their histories and experiences so that deeper understanding can occur for a more tolerant approach in the early childhood classroom.
The authors hypothesized that teasing, a social interaction that benefits relational bonds at the expense of the self, should be viewed as more affiliative, and experienced as more pleasurable, by members of cultures that deemphasize positive self-differentiation. In four multimethod studies, Asian Americans attributed more affiliative intent to teasers and reported more positive target experience than did European Americans. Teaser behavior, attribution biases, and personality did not account for culture-related differences in teasing experience. Rather, childhood teasing may better prepare Asian American children to overlook a tease's affront to the self in favor of its relational rewards. Implications of deemphasizing positive selfdifferentiation in social interaction are discussed.
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Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is a critical aspect of schooling. While a theoretical model put forward by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) has defined five well-accepted components of SEL, few assessments claim to measure these SEL components. This study examined the initial validation of scores for a new universal screening measure called the Social Emotional Learning Screening Assessment (SELA). The SELA's content and internal structure were based on the CASEL five model and the existing SSIS Performance Screening Guide. As part of a larger project, experienced Australian teachers of 268 children from prep through year 3 provided initial user and psychometric evidence for the SELA. The results indicated the teacher-completed SELA is well aligned with the CASEL model and offers educators a time-efficient, sensitive, and reliable measure that effectively identifies students at-risk socially and academically. Although preliminary but promising, further research with the SELA is required to replicate and extend these findings to educators in US schools and to test its application with larger, more diverse samples of students.
A number of studies have documented a normative decline in academic achievement across the transition from elementary school to middle or junior high school. The current study examined the effectiveness of varying levels of a social-emotional learning intervention, "Talking with TJ," in limiting achievement loss across transition. Data were gathered on 154 students during their fifth and sixth grade years in an urban, low socio-economic school district. Students participated in the "Talking with TJ" program over their fifth grade years, and curriculum fidelity in individual classrooms was evaluated. Changes in grade point average were assessed across the middle school transition. Overall, students showed a significant decline in GPA across the transition. Students in classrooms where higher dosages of intervention were delivered showed significantly smaller drops in GPA across transition than did students in lower dosage classrooms. Data on differential program effectiveness among demographic groups and along varying levels of baseline emotional intelligence also are presented. Editors' Strategic Implications: The authors present promising findings for a school transition program, link dosage to effects, and raise interesting theoretical questions about the relationships between social-emotional learning and academic growth and achievement.
Children with high rates of disruptive behavior in elementary school are at risk for future psychosocial difficulties. Professionals who work in today's schools are in need of effective interventions to reduce rates of disruptive behaviors in schools in order to ensure optimal outcomes for students. We detail a pilot study of a brief mindfulness-based intervention, Soles of the Feet (SOF), for elementary school students. Three non-disabled students with high rates of off-task behavior during general education periods were selected and taught the SOF intervention. SOF took place over the course of five 20–30-min sessions in a public school setting. Using a multiple-baseline single-subject study design, results obtained via direct observation of student behavior during general education instructional time in the classroom suggest that SOF may be an effective intervention to reduce off-task behavior and increase academically engaged behavior for behaviorally challenging students. Questionnaires administered to these students and their teachers suggest that SOF is socially valid, feasible, and acceptable intervention for use in public schools. Conclusions extend the research of the effectiveness of SOF, and suggest that SOF is an effective short-term, resource non-intensive, and socially valid intervention for use with typically developing students with disruptive behavior in a public school setting.
We assessed the effectiveness of an adapted mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program on educator stress and well-being. The study included 36 high school educators who participated in either an 8-week adapted MBSR program or a waitlist control group. Results suggested that educators who participated in MBSR reported significant gains in self-regulation, self-compassion, and mindfulness-related skills (observation, nonjudgment, and nonreacting). Significant improvements in multiple dimensions of sleep quality were found as well. These findings provide promising evidence of the effectiveness of MBSR as a strategy to promote educator’s personal and professional well-being. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.
We assessed the effectiveness of an adapted mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program on educator stress and well-being. The study included 36 high school educators who participated in either an 8-week adapted MBSR program or a waitlist control group. Results suggested that educators who participated in MBSR reported significant gains in self-regulation, self-compassion, and mindfulness-related skills (observation, nonjudgment, and nonreacting). Significant improvements in multiple dimensions of sleep quality were found as well. These findings provide promising evidence of the effectiveness of MBSR as a strategy to promote educator’s personal and professional well-being. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.
School discipline is an ongoing area of concern, as keeping children in school and engaged in learning is required not only for their well-being, but also for that of society. In response to the failure of zero-tolerance policies and to the passing of Illinois Senate Bill 100, which restricts disciplinary action that remove students from school, XYZ Middle School is adopting a restorative justice model of school discipline. This model, based on Social Emotional Learning (SEL), is projected to reduce suspensions and address the racial disparity existing in disciplinary practices at the school. Combining SEL and restorative justice practices will change the culture of the school through staff training, family involvement, and the creation of a new restorative justice coordinator position.
ObjectiveWe examined whether prenatal mindfulness training was associated with lower depressive symptoms through 18‐months postpartum compared to treatment as usual (TAU).
Method
A controlled, quasi‐experimental trial compared prenatal mindfulness training (MMT) to TAU. We collected depressive symptom data at post‐intervention, 6‐, and 18‐months postpartum. Latent profile analysis identified depressive symptom profiles, and multinomial logistic regression examined whether treatment condition predicted profile.
Results
Three depressive symptom severity profiles emerged: none/minimal, mild, and moderate. Adjusting for relevant covariates, MMT participants were less likely than TAU participants to be in the moderate profile than the none/minimal profile (OR = 0.13, 95% CI = 0.03‐0.54, p = .005).
Conclusions
Prenatal mindfulness training may have benefits for depressive symptoms during the transition to parenthood.
<p>A school-based program of mindful awareness practices (MAPs) was evaluated in a randomized control study of 64 second- and third-grade children ages 7–9 years. The program was delivered for 30 minutes, twice per week, for 8 weeks. Teachers and parents completed questionnaires assessing children's executive function immediately before and following the 8-week period. Multivariate analysis of covariance on teacher and parent reports of executive function (EF) indicated an interaction effect between baseline EF score and group status on posttest EF. That is, children in the MAPs group who were less well regulated showed greater improvement in EF compared with controls. Specifically, those children starting out with poor EF who went through the MAPs training showed gains in behavioral regulation, metacognition, and overall global executive control. These results indicate a stronger effect of MAPs on children with executive function difficulties. The finding that both teachers and parents reported changes suggests that improvements in children's behavioral regulation generalized across settings. Future work is warranted using neurocognitive tasks of executive functions, behavioral observation, and multiple classroom samples to replicate and extend these preliminary findings.</p>
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"This thesis investigates the realm of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), and how it may be best implemented in the mainstream classroom through the use of fiction literature. Definitions of SEL and the associated social-emotional competencies are addressed, as well as guidelines, best environments, and methods to promote SEL. This thesis also explores the unique properties of fiction literature to increase the social-emotional competencies of adolescent students. With its ability to simulate worlds, stimulate emotions, increase empathy, improve theory of mind, develop social skills, and help readers solve personal problems, fiction literature is a unique and valuable tool for educators to integrate social and emotional learning into the mainstream classroom."--Leaf 4.
A wide and rich body of literature has identified the family as the key context influencing children's development. In response, school districts and policymakers have sought to engage parents in children's learning, particularly low-income families. Meta-analyses conclude that efforts to engage low-income parents do improve students' academic achievement. Such research has prompted developers of some school-based preventive interventions to integrate programming components targeted at students' parents. Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programs are one such type of school-based preventive intervention. SEL programs aim to improve children's social-emotional competencies (behavioral regulation, attentional skills, problem-solving, social skills), in order to support their academic development. This paper examines the parenting component of INSIGHTS into Children's Temperament, an SEL program that includes a manualized curriculum for teachers, students, and parents. Results from a randomized trial revealed that INSIGHTS improved students' achievement and sustained attention, and reduced their disruptive behaviors. The current study tests whether program impacts on low-income urban kindergarten and first grade students' academic, social-emotional, and behavioral outcomes differed by levels of parent participation. This study took place in 22 low-income urban public elementary schools. Ninety-one percent of participating children were age five or six when they enrolled in the study. Eleven schools were randomized to INSIGHTS; the remaining eleven schools were assigned to the attention-control condition. Previous research on school-based preventive interventions has typically found that more program dosage--at multiple levels--is associated with larger gains for students. Yet, the results of this study suggest that the dosage story in the INSIGHTS evaluation may be more nuanced than has been previously understood in literature on school-based interventions. Tables and figures are appended.
Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) programs aim to improve students' social-emotional competencies in order to enhance their achievement. Although SEL programs typically implement classroom curricula, some programs also include a component for parents. Yet, little is known about the types of parents likely to participate in services, and whether parent participation moderates program effects on student outcomes in low-income urban schools. This article aims to fill these gaps in the literature using data from the randomized trial of the SEL program INSIGHTS into Children's Temperament (N = 435 parent/child dyads), which was conducted in 22 low-income urban elementary schools during children's kindergarten and first-grade year. Descriptive findings revealed that children at lower risk for poor achievement had parents who were more likely to participate in program services. In addition, findings from inverse probability of treatment-weighting models demonstrated larger effects of INSIGHTS on academic, attentional, and behavioral outcomes for children whose parents participated at lower rates. Implications for prevention science and SEL program implementation and scale-up are discussed.
Up to 50% of breast cancer survivors on aromatase inhibitor therapy report musculoskeletal symptoms such as joint and muscle pain, significantly impacting treatment adherence and discontinuation rates. We conducted a secondary data analysis of a nationwide, multi-site, phase II/III randomized, controlled, clinical trial examining the efficacy of yoga for improving musculoskeletal symptoms among breast cancer survivors currently receiving hormone therapy (aromatase inhibitors [AI] or tamoxifen [TAM]). Breast cancer survivors currently receiving AI (N = 95) or TAM (N = 72) with no participation in yoga during the previous 3 months were randomized into 2 arms: (1) standard care monitoring and (2) standard care plus the 4-week yoga intervention (2x/week; 75 min/session) and included in this analysis. The yoga intervention utilized the UR Yoga for Cancer Survivors (YOCAS©(®)) program consisting of breathing exercises, 18 gentle Hatha and restorative yoga postures, and meditation. Musculoskeletal symptoms were assessed pre- and post-intervention. At baseline, AI users reported higher levels of general pain, muscle aches, and total physical discomfort than TAM users (all P ≤ 0.05). Among all breast cancer survivors on hormonal therapy, participants in the yoga group demonstrated greater reductions in musculoskeletal symptoms such as general pain, muscle aches and total physical discomfort from pre- to post-intervention than the control group (all P ≤ 0.05). The severity of musculoskeletal symptoms was higher for AI users compared to TAM users. Among breast cancer survivors on hormone therapy, the brief community-based YOCAS©® intervention significantly reduced general pain, muscle aches, and physical discomfort.
Objective: To compare the efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Addiction Treatment (MBAT) to a Cognitive Behavioral Treatment (CBT) that matched MBAT on treatment contact time, and a Usual Care (UC) condition that comprised brief individual counseling. Method: Participants (N = 412) were 48.2% African American, 41.5% non-Latino White, 5.4% Latino, and 4.9% other, and 57.6% reported a total annual household income < $30,000. The majority of participants were female (54.9%). Mean cigarettes per day was 19.9 (SD = 10.1). Following the baseline visit, participants were randomized to UC (n = 103), CBT (n = 155), or MBAT (n = 154). All participants were given self-help materials and nicotine patch therapy. CBT and MBAT groups received 8 2-hr in-person group counseling sessions. UC participants received 4 brief individual counseling sessions. Biochemically verified smoking abstinence was assessed 4 and 26 weeks after the quit date. Results: Logistic random effects model analyses over time indicated no overall significant treatment effects (completers only: F(2, 236) = 0.29, p = .749; intent-to-treat: F(2, 401) = 0.9, p = .407). Among participants classified as smoking at the last treatment session, analyses examining the recovery of abstinence revealed a significant overall treatment effect, F(2, 103) = 4.41, p = .015 (MBAT vs. CBT: OR = 4.94, 95% CI: 1.47 to 16.59, p = .010, Effect Size = .88; MBAT vs. UC: OR = 4.18, 95% CI: 1.04 to 16.75, p = .043, Effect Size = .79). Conclusion: Although there were no overall significant effects of treatment on abstinence, MBAT may be more effective than CBT or UC in promoting recovery from lapses.
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