Does mindfulness-based intervention in school-setting improve mental health in one-year follow-up?

BACKGROUND: Mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) have shown promising results on students’ well-being in several countries, including Finland. However, less is known of the long-term effects of MBIs. We investigated the effects of MBI on mental health in school-setting in a one-year follow-up in an extensive randomized controlled trial Healthy Learning Mind. METHODS: Finnish pupils (Intervention group N = 542, active control group N = 557) aged 12-15 years were randomized into a 9 week MBI group, and a control group with a relaxation program. The primary outcomes were resilience (RS14), socio-emotional functioning (SDQ), and depressive symptoms (RBDI) at baseline, and at follow-up at 52 weeks (T52). Analyses were done with multilevel linear models. RESULTS: Positive intervention effect was found for socio-emotional functioning between intervention and active control group (Group×Time β=−0.866, p = 0.014). Socio-emotional functioning remained same in the intervention group (β = 0.338, p = 0.178) whereas difficulties increased in the active control group (β = 1.205, p < 0.001). Mindfulness did not show effects on the resilience (p = 0.303) or depressive symptoms (p = 0.925). In an additional exploratory analysis, among the students who had continued practicing mindfulness at least once a week (n = 45) compared to the all pupils in the active control group, no significant differences were found in resilience (p = 0.197), socio-emotional functioning (p = 0.186), or depressive symptoms (p = 0.802). However, although not significant, those 45 pupils, who continued mindfulness practices at least once a week scored systematically better on resilience and socio-emotional functioning compared to active controls. CONCLUSIONS: Short 9-week MBI in school-setting provides slight benefits for socio-emotional functioning in one- year follow-up. Since only 45 pupils continued independent practice for one year, it is difficult to reliably appraise the long-term benefits of MBI in school-setting. KEY MESSAGES: • We need more information on the type of support pupils need to keep up practice. The low number of pupils who keep up practicing hampers better understanding of the long-term effects of MBIs. • The MBI effectiveness research in school settings would benefit from behavioral science perspective.