Presenter(s)

• Juliana Vanderburg
• Marisa Marraccini, Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Sophie Litwin

Abstract

This systematic review describes the effects of universal, school-based mindfulness interventions for fostering positive mental health outcomes in students. A search identified 616 studies, of which 21 met inclusion criteria The effectiveness of school-based mindfulness interventions for improving student mental health differed based on intervention type and the outcomes measured, with the greatest support emerging for mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) interventions and the greatest improvements seen in stress, although results were mixed. While some interventions were associated with improvements in mental health among this population of youth, many did not yield significant impacts on these outcome measures, and many articles showed inconsistent results. The implications of these findings for school psychology practice are discussed.