The practice of mindfulness helps to calm your mind, ground your body and keep your focus on the present. Practicing mindfulness has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety, reduce challenging behavior, improve attention and focus, boost learning and cognitive performance, strengthen emotional intelligence, foster engagement and enhance self-regulation. Research shows mindfulness practices can be helpful in supporting students with autism, not to mention their educators.

Mindfulness and Well-being. In M. D. Robinson & M. Eid (Eds.)

We begin this chapter by defining mindfulness and giving a brief historical overview for contextual purposes. In defining mindfulness, we focus on three core elements—intention, attention, and attitude. In the next section of the chapter, we review the empirical literature—which highlights the link between mindfulness as a state, trait, and practice—to physical and psychological well-being in both clinical and non-clinical samples. Throughout the chapter, we invite potential opportunities for new research directions. Finally, we detail formal and informal practices for cultivating mindfulness in an effort to enhance one's own well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

Bolstering Cognitive Resilience via Train-the-Trainer Delivery of Mindfulness Training in Applied High-Demand Settings

Objectives: Mindfulness training (MT) guidelines recommend that trainers have familiarity and knowledge of the training group as well as extensive MT expertise. Herein, a “train-the-trainer” (TTT) dissemination model was investigated for military service members whose access to MT is threatened by a scarcity of qualified trainers.
Methods: US Army Master Resilience Trainer-Performance Experts (PEs), who had extensive familiarity with soldiers but no prior MT experience, participated in an MT practicum, and then delivered a 4-week MT program (Mindfulness-Based Attention Training, MBAT) contextualized for military personnel. Soldiers (n = 180) undergoing intensive military field training over the study interval were recruited as participants. MBAT was delivered to soldiers by PEs (n = 89) or by a trainer with extensive MT experience (Mindfulness Expert; ME, n = 45) but no military familiarity. The remaining participants served as no-training controls (NTC, n = 46). Soldiers’ performance on sustained attention and working memory (WM) tasks was assessed before (week 0, T1) and after MBAT delivery (week 5, T2), and again 4 weeks later (week 10, T3).
Results: For all participants, sustained attention and WM performance declined over the high-demand field training interval (p < 0.001). Yet, the PE group declined significantly less in attentional (p = 0.040) and WM (p < 0.001) performance relative to the other groups.
Conclusions: These results suggest that TTT delivery of short-form MT by context-familiar trainers may be an expeditious route by which to increase access to MT in the service of promoting cognitive resilience in high-demand groups.

Mindfulness: A Tool for Parents and Children with Asperger's Syndrome

Being the parent of children with an autism spectrum disorder, it is easy to lose control over the constant stream of thoughts, worries, and doubts running through your mind. There is, in fact, a lot to worry about. There is, in fact, a lot to plan for. It is easy to fall into a trap, a spiral, a never-ending chain of negative thoughts. Without mindful attention, this can happen without you ever being aware. This was the situation I found myself in 6 years following the birth of my twin boys. The first 2 years of their lives seemed like a constant struggle. The boys were born 10 weeks premature and spent six difficult weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Despite some concerns about their language development — concerns we initially attributed to their prematurity — we hoped that following yet another assessment at the age two, we might be able to finally put prematurity and all its related fears behind us. It was an unanticipated stunning blow, and we spent the next year living in alternating states of fear, denial, and acceptance while dealing with a set of challenging behaviors from not one but two very active and high-maintenance toddlers. had two main goals for my Buddhist efforts. One focus was to gain control of my runaway thought process. I hoped that by learning to pay attention to my breathing, I could learn to catch my thoughts before they burst into full-blown panic or obsession, as was happening so often. One night, in particular, I found myself outside playing an improvised game of the boys' own creation. It was a wonderful evening. Despite the limited amount of information from the scientific, Buddhist, or autism treatment communities, I decided this would be a positive avenue to pursue for my boys. However, with a lack of resources in this area, we were starting from nearly square one. Without literature guiding me on how to teach mindfulness to children with AS, I set out to devise my own program and began to search for tips on teaching mindfulness to young children, which I then could modify to suit the particular needs of my boys. To me, these seem to be obvious connections; however, a PubMed search on the words "mindfulness meditation" and "Asperger's Syndrome" still results in the disappointing "no items found." Perhaps, within this small community, we can develop the tricks and tools we need to teach our unique children mindfulness that we can, then share with the community at large. Perhaps too, we will learn the benefits for ourselves and find a way to avoid the traps of negative thinking and despair that plague parents of children with autism.

Integrating Mindfulness and Character Strengths for Improved Well-Being, Stress, and Relationships: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Mindfulness-Based Strengths Practice

The integration of mindfulness and character strengths is an emerging area of research and practice. The evidence-based, 8-week program, Mindfulness-Based Strengths Practice (MBSP) represents a unique approach in that the starting point and focus is on what is best in human beings – their character strengths. These qualities are then leveraged to improve one’s meditation practice or area of mindful living (referred to as “strong mindfulness”) and in turn, mindfulness is used as a lens for deepening awareness and use of strengths (referred to as “mindful strengths use”). While early controlled studies find MBSP to elicit well-being and reduce stress, and find it to be superior to popular mindfulness programs for different outcomes, we are not aware of any published qualitative analyses examining the MBSP participant’s experience. This study offers insights from a large international sample and extends the empirical data on MBSP, including the novel finding of benefit for building positive relationships, as well as confirming other findings such as the most common obstacles people confront in mindfulness practices. Additional areas discussed using qualitative and quantitative findings include the most beneficial mindfulness/character strengths practices, the use of inward and outward-oriented practices, cognizance of the integration of mindfulness and character strengths, and self-reported positive outcomes, including substantial benefits to stress and problem management and boosts to meaning, purpose, engagement, accomplishment, and sense of self.

Effects of a Mindfulness-Based Program on Young Children’s Self-Regulation, Prosocial Behavior and Hyperactivity

Classroom environments need to provide young children with opportunities to practice self-regulation in order to develop social and emotional competence. The effects of a mindfulness-based program on self-regulation, prosocial behavior and hyperactivity were examined in a study of 127 children (ages 4–6) in 8 kindergarten classrooms that were randomly assigned to either a Mindfulness Group (n = 72) or to a Control Group (n = 55). The program consisted of 20-minute lessons, delivered 3 times a week, for 6 weeks. The Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders (HTKS) was used as a direct performance-based measure of self-regulation. The teacher version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used to assess prosocial behavior and hyperactivity. Data were collected before (Time 1) and after (Time 2) the 6-week period of the study intervention. Results indicated that children in the Mindfulness Group showed greater improvement in self-regulation, F (1, 124) = 10.70, p = .001 (=.079), were more prosocial (z = −4.152, p < .001) and less hyperactive (z = −3.377, p = .001) compared to children in the Control Group at Time 2. This was especially true for children who had lower scores at Time 1 (HTKS; rho = −.551, p < .001; Prosocial Behavior scale; rho = −.69, p < .001 and the Hyperactivity scale; rho = −.39, p < .001). Results highlight the benefits of mindfulness-based programs in kindergarten classrooms and indicate that they are particularly effective for children with difficulties in these areas.

Mindfulness Training for Teachers Changes the Behavior of Their Preschool Students

We measured the effects of preschool teachers attending an 8-week mindfulness course on the behavior of the students in their classroom. Results showed that decreases in the students’ challenging behaviors and increases in their compliance with teacher requests began during mindfulness training for the teachers and continued to change following the training. While the students did not show a change in positive social interactions with peers, they did show a decrease in negative social interactions and an increase in isolate play. Our results indicate that mindfulness training for teachers was effective in changing teacher-student interactions in desirable ways.

Preliminary Investigation of Workplace-Provided Compressed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction with Pediatric Medical Social Workers

Mindfulness practices, including mindfulness meditation, show promise for decreasing stress among health care providers. This exploratory study investigates the feasibility of a two-day compressed mindfulness-based stress reduction (cMBSR) course provided in the hospital workplace with pediatric health care social workers. The standard course of Jon Kabat-Zinn's MBSR requires a participant commitment to eight weeks of instruction consisting of one 2.5-hour-per-week class, a single day retreat, and 45 minutes of practice for six of seven days each week. Commitments to family, work, caregiving, education, and so on, as well as limitations such as distance, may prevent health care providers from participating in a standard MBSR course. Using t tests, researchers measured the effect of cMBSR on (a) positive and negative experiences in pediatric social work, (b) perceived stress, (c) mindfulness, and (d) caring self-efficacy (as a component of patient- and family-centered care). Results included significant differences between the pre- and post-intervention outcome variables on the Professional Quality of Life Secondary Traumatic Stress subscale, the Mindful Attention and Awareness Scale, and the Caring Efficacy Scale. Findings found adequate evidence for the feasibility of cMBSR design and for a need of a more rigorous study of the effects of the cMBSR intervention.

Cultivating Mind: Mindfulness Interventions for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Problem Behaviours, and Their Mothers

Problem behaviours in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are a major source of parenting stress, as they restrict family capacity to maintain quality domestic and social life. It is therefore critical to support parents to manage the problem behaviours of their child with ASD. Recent mindfulness intervention studies have successfully addressed this issue. The current pilot study pursues this line of enquiry and extends the scope of mindfulness intervention by training parents to become a mindfulness teacher of their own child with ASD and problem behaviours, so together they can work on enhancing the quality of their domestic and social life. A total of six dyads of mothers (CA range 34–48 years) and children with ASD and problem behaviours (CA range 8–15 years) participated in a two-stage mindfulness intervention. Mothers attended an 8-week mindfulness program to attain fluency in the theory and practice of mindfulness meditation (Stage 1). Based on this fluency they then taught mindfulness activities to their child (Stage 2). This paper reports on the effects of the mindfulness intervention provided for mothers (Stage 1) and children (Stage 2) as demonstrated by the level of mindfulness, parenting stress, and family quality of life for mothers, and problem behaviours for children. The results highlight overall improvements in the targeted areas. Some benefits, issues, and challenges of mindfulness training for parents and their children with ASD are discussed.

How Long Does a Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Program Need To Be? A Review of Class Contact Hours and Effect Sizes for Psychological Distress

The mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program was designed to be long enough for participants to grasp the principles of self-regulation through mindfulness and develop skill and autonomy in mindfulness practice. It traditionally consists of 26 hours of session time including eight classes of 2-1/2 hours and an all-day class. The circumstances of some groups exclude them from participating in this standard form and a number of trials have evaluated programs with abbreviated class time. If lower program time demands can lead to similar outcomes in psychological functioning, it would support their utility in these settings and might lead to greater participation. However, the effect of variation in class hours on outcomes has not been systematically studied. To obtain preliminary information related to this question we examined effect sizes for psychological outcome variables in published studies of MBSR, some of which had adapted the standard number of class hours. The correlation between mean effect size and number of in-class hours was nonsignificant for both clinical and nonclinical samples and suggests that adaptations that include less class time may be worthwhile for populations for whom reduction of psychological distress is an important goal and for whom longer time commitment may be a barrier to their ability or willingness to participate. However, the standard MBSR format has accrued the most empirical support for its efficacy and session time may be important to the development of other kinds of program outcomes. The result points to the importance of empirical studies systematically examining this question.

Comparative Effects of Mindfulness and Support and Information Group Interventions for Parents of Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Other Developmental Disabilities

This study evaluated two community based interventions for parents of adults with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities. Parents in the mindfulness group reported significant reductions in psychological distress, while parents in the support and information group did not. Reduced levels of distress in the mindfulness group were maintained at 20 weeks follow-up. Mindfulness scores and mindful parenting scores and related constructs (e.g., self-compassion) did not differ between the two groups. Results suggest the psychological components of the mindfulness based group intervention were effective over and above the non-specific effects of group processes and informal support.