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MINDFULNESS IN SCHOOLS RESEARCH

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

Mindfulness Meditation for Adolescent Stress and Well-Being: A Systematic Review of the Literature with Implications for School Health Programs

 

Erbe, R., & Lohrmann, D. (2015). Mindfulness Meditation for Adolescent Stress and Well-Being: A Systematic Review of the Literature with Implications for School Health Programs. Health Educator, 47(2), 12-19.

 

“Stress poses one of the biggest threats to the health and well-being of young people. Adolescents are especially vulnerable to the negative effects of stress due to developmental factors. Recently, Mindfulness Meditation (MM) programs have been implemented into both clinical and school-based settings to reduce stress and promote the health of adolescents. This article reviews the current literature that reports on the effect of MM to reduce adolescent stress and enhance well-being. Results appear promising for MM to positively affect the identified outcomes in both clinical and school settings. Recommendations for schools to implement MM within the framework of a Coordinated School Health Program are included.”


 

Mental Health and Social Emotional Programming in Schools

 

Even, T. A., & Quast, H. L. (2017). Mental Health and Social Emotional Programming

in Schools: Missing Link or Misappropriation?. Journal Of School Counseling,

15(5),

 

“While differences of opinion exist on whether mental health services fall within the scope of public education, schools may represent the best opportunity to provide young people with necessary access to mental health care”


 

Reduced Psychological Distress in Racial and Ethnic Minority Students Practicing the Transcendental Meditation Program

 

Elder, C., Nidich, S., Colbert, R., Hagelin, J., Grayshield, L., Oviedo-Lim, D., & ...

Gerace, D. (2011). Reduced Psychological Distress in Racial and Ethnic

Minority Students Practicing the Transcendental Meditation Program. Journal Of

Instructional Psychology, 38(2), 109-116.

 

“There is a growing literature describing the stressful nature of students' school experience. Previous research has found that racial and ethnic minority groups are particularly subject to high levels of stress due to exposure to violence, pressures due to acculturation, and the schooling process. This is the first study to evaluate effects of the Transcendental Meditation[R] program on psychological distress across diverse racial and ethnic minority student groups. Because of the association between psychological distress and both adverse school performance and poor physical and mental health outcomes, it is important for school administrators to implement programs of stress reduction into their schools. (Contains 2 tables.)”

 

 

Mindfulness and an Argument for Tier 1

 

Stuart, S. K., Collins, J., Toms, O., & Gwalla-Ogisi, N. (2017). Mindfulness and an Argument for Tier 1, Whole School Support. International Journal Of Whole Schooling, 13(3), 14-27.

 

“This article provides an argument for implementing mindfulness supports within a school that adheres to the principles of whole schooling. First, the authors synthesize the research related to the use of mindfulness-based activities in schools. Next, they provide an argument for implementing mindfulness supports within a school that adheres to the principles of whole schooling.”


 

Transformative Life Skills: Pilot Study of a Yoga Model for Reduced Stress and Improving Self-Control in Vulnerable Youth

 

Ramadoss, R., & Bose, B. K. (2010). Transformative Life Skills: Pilot Study of a Yoga

Model for Reduced Stress and Improving Self-Control in Vulnerable Youth.

International Journal Of Yoga Therapy, 2073-78.

 

“Two pilot studies demonstrate that a comprehensive multimodality intervention of Transformative Life Skills (TLS) consisting of Yoga poses (asana), breathing techniques (pranayama), and meditation (dhyana) can reduce perceived stress and increase self-control and self-awareness in at-risk and incarcerated youth”



 

Considering Mindfulness Techniques in School-Based Anti-Bullying Programs

Foody, M., & Samara, M. (2018). Considering Mindfulness Techniques in School-Based Anti-Bullying Programmes. Journal Of New Approaches In Educational Research, 7(1), 3-9.

 

“The impact on mental health is the most obvious concern for those responsible for reducing bullying, however, input from psychologists and mental health professionals is scant and often limited on this topic. [This article] will focus specifically on the role of mindfulness techniques and argue for more of such exercises to be included in whole-school bullying programmes. We conclude by arguing the need to investigate components relevant to both mindfulness and anti-bullying programmes as active ingredients for reducing the impact of bullying on mental health.”

 

Impact of the Urban Zen Initiative on patients' experience of admission to an inpatient oncology floor: a mixed-methods analysis

Kligler, B., Homel, P., Harrison, L. B., Sackett, E., Levenson, H., Kenney, J., & ... Merrell, W. (2011). Impact of the Urban Zen Initiative on patients' experience of admission to an inpatient oncology floor: a mixed-methods analysis. Journal Of Alternative And Complementary Medicine (New York, N.Y.), 17(8), 729-734. doi:10.1089/acm.2010.0533

 

“The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the Urban Zen Initiative, an "optimal healing environment" intervention, at Beth Israel Medical Center on both quantitative and qualitative measures of the experience of patients admitted for inpatient oncology care. Patients in the intervention group experienced significantly less emotional distress during their stay when compared to patients in the baseline group. There were also significantly greater improvements in pain and discomfort during the stay in the treatment group as compared to controls”

 

 

 

The Impact of Mindfulness Training On Middle Grades Students’ Office Discipline Referrals

Martinez, T., & Zhao, Y. (2018). The Impact of Mindfulness Training on Middle Grades Students’ Office Discipline Referrals. Research In Middle Level Education Online, 41(3), 1-8.

“Young adolescents who experience stress may also exhibit negative behaviors at school. Students whose misbehavior causes an interruption to classroom learning may be sent to the office and, as a result, lose instructional time and learning. The goal of this quasi-experimental pilot study was to determine if mindfulness training would decrease the number of office discipline referrals for middle grades students with a high number of office discipline referrals.”    


 

Your brain on meditation

 

McGonigal, K., & Costello, N. (2017). Your brain on meditation. Yoga Journal, 12-17.

 

"The article discusses the findings of a research which reveals how meditation practice influences the human brain in remodeling one's decision making, emotions and ability to focus. The research notes the health benefits of meditation in aiding one's ability to learning, and training the brain's mental ability. The article also presents the views of professor Eileen Luders, scientist Antoine Lutz and clinical neuroscientist Philippe Goldin.”

 

Distinct neural activity associated with focused-attention meditation and loving-kindness meditation

 

Lee, T. C., Leung, M., Hou, W., Tang, J. Y., Yin, J., So, K., & ... Chan, C. H. (2012). Distinct neural activity associated with focused-attention meditation and loving-kindness meditation. Plos One, 7(8), e40054. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0040054

 

“This study examined the dissociable neural effects of focused-attention meditation and loving-kindness meditation on BOLD signals during cognitive (continuous performance test, CPT) and affective (emotion-processing task, EPT, in which participants viewed affective pictures) processing. Twenty-two male Chinese expert meditators and 22 male Chinese novice meditators had their brain activity monitored by a 3T MRI scanner while performing the cognitive and affective tasks in both meditation and baseline states. [The] findings provide the first report of distinct neural activity associated with forms of meditation during sustained attention and emotion processing.”


 

Mindfulness for students and the adults who lead them

 

Thompson, E. (2018). Mindfulness for students and the adults who lead them: School administrators have complex jobs. Mindfulness offers strategies and practices to help leaders manage and care for themselves, so they can manage and care for others. Leadership, 47(3), 28-32.

 

“The article focuses on importance of the mindfulness for school administrators in the U.S. It mentions role of mindfulness in managing and caring for school administrators. It also mentions that professor Jon Kabat-Zinn of the University of Massachusetts Medical Center developed a program called Mindfulness- Based Stress Reduction for augmenting pain management, emotional regulation, enhanced attention and reduced stress.”


 

Behavioral Impacts Of A Mindfulness Pilot Intervention For Elementary Schools Students

 

HARPIN, S., ROSSI, A., KIM, A. K., & SWANSON, L. M. (2016). Behavioral Impacts Of A Mindfulness Pilot Intervention For Elementary Schools Students . Education, 137(2), 149-156.

 

Elementary school students in today's urban classrooms face many life circumstances at home and in their communities that contribute to stress and coping needs. These stressors are often brought into the classroom, which impact learning, behaviors, and overall academic performance. Mindfulness has been used in classroom settings, particularly with older children and adolescents to help with behavioral and academic outcomes in school. Findings support the use of Mindfulness in urban classroom settings as a feasible option for students to help with personal stress and coping, as well as emotional and behavior regulation in schools and at home.

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