Do Mindful Breathing Exercises Benefit Reading Comprehension? A Brief Report

Effect of Bubble Breath Play Therapy in Anxiety Levels and Pain Perception in Children Receiving Local Anesthesia: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Aim and objectives

The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of breathing exercise with and without bubble breath play therapy (BBPT) on pain perception and anxiety levels during local anesthesia administration in children aged between 6 and 11 years.

Materials and methods

Total 36 children were selected and randomly allocated between two experimental groups and a control group. Group A: BBPT, group B: diaphragmatic breathing exercises (DBE), and group C: conventional techniques. The effectiveness of breathing exercise, BBPT, and behavior management technique in reducing anxiety levels and pain perception was assessed before intervention, after intervention, during local anesthetic (LA) administration, and after treatment using the animated visual pain rating scale (VPRS), pulse rate, oxygen saturation, Frankl's scale, FLACC (face, legs, activity, cry, consolability) scale, and relaxation measurement scale (RMS).

Results

There were no significant differences found between the two intervention groups (group A and group B). Both intervention groups significantly reduced dental pain and anxiety in children.

Conclusion

BBPT is found to be a simple relaxation and distraction method, which can be considered fun and enhances rapport between doctor and children during treatment. The use of such a technique to relieve the pain and anxiety associated with even a brief painful procedure should be encouraged.

How to cite this article

Shrimahalakshmi, Shivanand PB, Nisha M, et al. Effect of Bubble Breath Play Therapy in Anxiety Levels and Pain Perception in Children Receiving Local Anesthesia: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2025;18(1):24-28.

Short breaks at school: effects of a physical activity and a mindfulness intervention on children's attention, reading comprehension, and self-esteem

BACKGROUND

Although breaks are essential to restoring cognitive and psychological conditions for learning, short breaks within school lessons are not established and the specificity of effects has not often been investigated. Therefore, the effects of a physical activity (Study 1) and a mindfulness intervention (Study 2) were investigated.

PROCEDURE

By an intervention-control group design, the effects of daily 10-min physical activity (Study 1: N = 162, 4th grade) and mindfulness breaks (Study 2: N = 79, 5th grade) were implemented within regular school lessons over a 2-week time period to research the impact on attention, reading comprehension, and self-esteem.

RESULTS

In the physical activity intervention children's attention improved (attention-processing speed: p < .004, η_p² = .05, attention-performance: p < .025, η_p² = .03), and in the mindfulness intervention reading comprehension improved (p < .012, η_p² = .08) compared to the controls. Results further indicated that self-esteem moderated the relationship between groups and attention improvement in study 1.

CONCLUSION

Classroom-based short physical and mindfulness breaks could support attention and reading comprehension, which are known to support overall academic success.

Brief Mindfulness Breathing Exercises and Working Memory Capacity: Findings from Two Experimental Approaches

Mindfulness training has been extensively researched and found to elicit positive effects on cognitive performance, including working memory capacity. Benefits to cognitive function have been extended to brief mindfulness training as well. However, not much is known about its effect on working memory capacity. The current study examined the effects of a single 15-min session of mindful attention to breathing compared to a 15-min session of mind-wandering exercise in a within-subjects experimental design (Study 1; N = 82) and a between-subjects experimental design (Study 2; N = 424). Contrary to our hypotheses, in both experiments, we did not find any evidence that participants in the mindfulness condition outperform the control condition on an operation span task (Study 1) and a symmetry span task (Study 2). These results suggest that a single session of mindful practice may not be sufficient to enhance working memory capacity.