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Lassander M, Hintsanen M, Ravaja N, Määttänen I, Suominen S, Mullola S, Makkonen T, Vahlberg T, Volanen SM. Pilot study on students’ stress reactivity after mindfulness intervention compared to relaxation control group. International Journal of Stress Management 2022. [DOI: 10.1037/str0000246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Lassander M, Hintsanen M, Suominen S, Mullola S, Vahlberg T, Volanen SM. Effects of school-based mindfulness intervention on health-related quality of life: moderating effect of gender, grade, and independent practice in cluster randomized controlled trial. Qual Life Res 2021; 30:3407-3419. [PMID: 34169412 PMCID: PMC8602227 DOI: 10.1007/s11136-021-02868-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Object We investigated the impact of a school-based 9-week mindfulness program vs. active control program (relaxation) and inactive control group on children’s self-reported Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) moderated by gender, grade, and independent practice. Method In total 3519 (50/50% boys/girls) Finnish students aged 12–15 years from 56 schools were randomized into mindfulness intervention, active, and inactive control groups. HRQoL was measured at baseline, at 9 weeks, and at 26 weeks and analyzed with multilevel linear modeling. Results Significant improvement on HRQoL was found (β = mean difference) (β = 1.587, 95% CI 0.672–2.502, p < 0.001) after 9 weeks and at 26 weeks of follow-up among students in the mindfulness group as compared to the active control group. Moderating effects on HRQoL were found for gender, grade, and independent practice: girls, 7th and 8th grade students, and students with regular independent mindfulness practice benefited most. Conclusions Gender and developmental stage may moderate the effects of mindfulness interventions on HRQoL and offer guidance in designing effective promotive interventions for children and adolescents. Trial Registration Information Healthy Learning Mind—a school-based mindfulness and relaxation program: a study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) ISRCTN18642659 retrospectively registered on 13 October 2015. The full trial protocol can be accessed at http://rdcu.be/t57S. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11136-021-02868-4.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maarit Lassander
- Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Parrulaituri 16 D 62, 00540, Helsinki, Finland.
| | | | - Sakari Suominen
- Department of Public Health, University of Skövde, Skövde, Sweden.,Department of Public Health, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Sari Mullola
- Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.,Teachers College, National Center for Children and Families (NCCF), Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Tero Vahlberg
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Salla-Maarit Volanen
- Folkhälsan Research Center, Helsinki, Finland.,Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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Lassander M, Hintsanen M, Suominen S, Mullola S, Fagerlund Å, Vahlberg T, Volanen SM. The Effects of School-based Mindfulness Intervention on Executive Functioning in a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial. Dev Neuropsychol 2020; 45:469-484. [PMID: 33305618 DOI: 10.1080/87565641.2020.1856109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Executive functions (EFs) are essential for student's learning and classroom functioning. The current cluster randomized controlled trial examines the effects of mindfulness intervention vs. active control program (i.e., relaxation) focusing on the main EFs (i.e., working memory, response inhibition, cognitive processing, cognitive flexibility and verbal fluency). A total of 131 students from 6th grade and 8th grade (median age 12 and 15) from four comprehensive schools participated. The schools were to equal shares randomized to intervention and active control groups, i.e., groups who underwent a 9-week mindfulness practice or relaxation program, respectively. Participants completed a cognitive test-package at baseline/pre-intervention, post-intervention at 9 weeks and follow-up at 6 months. Both intervention and active relaxation-based control groups improved on a majority of EF measures at both 9 weeks and 6 months. There was no significant difference between the mindfulness intervention group and the active control program in EFs. The current study suggests that mindfulness intervention and active control program do not differ in their effects to EFs, although both may have positive outcomes. Further research with both active and inactive control groups is needed to map the potential benefits of similar programs for cognitive functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maarit Lassander
- Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki , Helsinki, Finland
| | | | - Sakari Suominen
- Department of Public Health, University of Skövde , Skövde, Sweden.,Department of Public Health, University of Turku , Turku, Finland
| | - Sari Mullola
- Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki , Helsinki, Finland.,Teachers College, National Center for Children and Families (NCCF), Columbia University , NY, USA
| | - Åse Fagerlund
- Public Health Research Programme, Folkhälsan Research Center , Helsinki, Finland
| | - Tero Vahlberg
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Turku , Turku, Finland
| | - Salla-Maarit Volanen
- Public Health Research Programme, Folkhälsan Research Center , Helsinki, Finland.,Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki , Helsinki, Finland
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Volanen SM, Lassander M, Hankonen N, Santalahti P, Hintsanen M, Simonsen N, Raevuori A, Mullola S, Vahlberg T, But A, Suominen S. Healthy learning mind - Effectiveness of a mindfulness program on mental health compared to a relaxation program and teaching as usual in schools: A cluster-randomised controlled trial. J Affect Disord 2020; 260:660-669. [PMID: 31546105 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.08.087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2019] [Revised: 08/26/2019] [Accepted: 08/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) have shown promising effects on mental health among children and adolescents, but high-quality studies examining the topic are lacking. The present study assessed the effects of MBI on mental health in school-setting in an extensive randomised controlled trial. METHODS Finnish school children and adolescents (N = 3519), aged 12-15 years (6th to 8th graders), from 56 schools were randomized into a 9 week MBI group, and control groups with a relaxation program or teaching as usual. The primary outcomes were resilience, socio-emotional functioning, and depressive symptoms at baseline, at completion of the programs at 9 weeks (T9), and at follow-up at 26 weeks (T26). RESULTS Overall, mindfulness did not show more beneficial effects on the primary outcomes compared to the controls except for resilience for which a positive intervention effect was found at T9 in all participants (β=1.18, SE 0.57, p = 0.04) as compared to the relaxation group. In addition, in gender and grade related analyses, MBI lowered depressive symptoms in girls at T26 (β=-0.49, SE 0.21, p = 0.02) and improved socio-emotional functioning at T9 (β=-1.37, SE 0.69, p = 0.049) and at T26 (β=-1.71, SE 0.73, p = 0.02) among 7th graders as compared to relaxation. LIMITATIONS The inactive control group was smaller than the intervention and active control groups, reducing statistical power. CONCLUSIONS A short 9-week MBI in school-setting provides slight benefits over a relaxation program and teaching as usual. Future research should investigate whether embedding regular mindfulness-based practice in curriculums could intensify the effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- S-M Volanen
- Folkhälsan Research Center, Topeliuksenkatu 20, FI-00250 Helsinki, Finland; Clinicum, Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland.
| | - M Lassander
- Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki Finland
| | - N Hankonen
- Social Psychology Unit, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
| | - P Santalahti
- National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland
| | - M Hintsanen
- Unit of Psychology, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - N Simonsen
- Folkhälsan Research Center, Topeliuksenkatu 20, FI-00250 Helsinki, Finland; Clinicum, Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland
| | - A Raevuori
- Clinicum, Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland; Department of Adolescent Psychiatry, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland
| | - S Mullola
- Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki Finland; Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki, Finland
| | - T Vahlberg
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Turku, Finland
| | - A But
- Clinicum, Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland
| | - S Suominen
- Department of Public Health, University of Skövde, Sweden; Department of Public Health, University of Turku, Finland
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Volanen SM, Lassander M, Hankonen N, Santalahti P, Hintsanen M, Simonsen N, Raevuori A, Mullola S, Vahlberg T, But A, Suominen S. Healthy Learning Mind - a school-based mindfulness and relaxation program: a study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial. BMC Psychol 2016; 4:35. [PMID: 27401884 PMCID: PMC4940837 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-016-0142-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2016] [Accepted: 07/01/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Mindfulness has shown positive effects on mental health, mental capacity and well-being among adult population. Among children and adolescents, previous research on the effectiveness of mindfulness interventions on health and well-being has shown promising results, but studies with methodologically sound designs have been called for. Few intervention studies in this population have compared the effectiveness of mindfulness programs to alternative intervention programs with adequate sample sizes. METHODS/DESIGN Our primary aim is to explore the effectiveness of a school-based mindfulness intervention program compared to a standard relaxation program among a non-clinical children and adolescent sample, and a non-treatment control group in school context. In this study, we systematically examine the effects of mindfulness intervention on mental well-being (primary outcomes being resilience; existence/absence of depressive symptoms; experienced psychological strengths and difficulties), cognitive functions, psychophysiological responses, academic achievements, and motivational determinants of practicing mindfulness. The design is a cluster randomized controlled trial with three arms (mindfulness intervention group, active control group, non-treatment group) and the sample includes 59 Finnish schools and approx. 3 000 students aged 12-15 years. Intervention consists of nine mindfulness based lessons, 45 mins per week, for 9 weeks, the dose being identical in active control group receiving standard relaxation program called Relax. The programs are delivered by 14 educated facilitators. Students, their teachers and parents will fill-in the research questionnaires before and after the intervention, and they will all be followed up 6 months after baseline. Additionally, students will be followed 12 months after baseline. For longer follow-up, consent to linking the data to the main health registers has been asked from students and their parents. DISCUSSION The present study examines systematically the effectiveness of a school-based mindfulness program compared to a standard relaxation program, and a non-treatment control group. A strength of the current study lies in its methodologically rigorous, randomized controlled study design, which allows novel evidence on the effectiveness of mindfulness over and above a standard relaxation program. TRIAL REGISTRATION ISRCTN18642659 . Retrospectively registered 13 October 2015.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salla-maarit Volanen
- />Folkhälsan Research Center, Topeliuksenkatu 20, 00250 Helsinki, Finland
- />Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Maarit Lassander
- />Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Nelli Hankonen
- />School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
| | | | | | - Nina Simonsen
- />Folkhälsan Research Center, Topeliuksenkatu 20, 00250 Helsinki, Finland
- />Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Anu Raevuori
- />Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- />Department of Adolescent Psychiatry, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
- />Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Sari Mullola
- />Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- />Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Tero Vahlberg
- />Department of Biostatistics, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
| | - Anna But
- />Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Sakari Suominen
- />Folkhälsan Research Center, Topeliuksenkatu 20, 00250 Helsinki, Finland
- />Department of Public Health, University of Skövde, Skövde, Sweden
- />Department of Public Health, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
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