Mindfulness

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01624-6

ORIGINAL PAPER

Benefits of a Mindfulness-based Intervention at School

from the Perspective of At-risk Children
Catherine I. Andreu 1,2 & Claudio Araya-Véliz 3 & Carlos García-Rubio 4

Accepted: 10 March 2021

# The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2021

Abstract
Objectives Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) in the school context provide a set of practices that may help children to be
more aware of their mental and behavioral habits and to learn to develop healthy mind habits. In the last years, there has been an
exponential growth of empirical research documenting the benefits of practicing mindfulness in educational contexts. However,
most of the studies have used quantitative methodologies, and only a few of them have used qualitative approaches. In addition,
up to date, few studies have evaluated the impact of mindfulness-based interventions in school settings for children at risk.
Methods This qualitative study investigated the perceptions of at-risk children after participated in a MBI in a low-resource
school in Santiago de Chile. Eighteen children between 9 to 11 years old were interviewed in a semi-structure format. Following
the grounded theory, the data was analyzed using descriptive and axial coding.
Results The findings showed that the children experienced an integral learning process after the intervention. This involved
emotional, cognitive, and behavioral aspects that are described in the following seven main themes: (1) dissatisfaction state
before the intervention and intention to feel better; (2) main learnings and benefits of the mindfulness-based intervention; (3)
meaningful core practices and exercises; (4) feasibility and acceptance; (5) transference and application of learnings outside the
classroom; (6) benefits of the MBI in the school and family climate; (7) children’s perceptions and feelings about their changes.
Conclusion An MBI in a low-resource school has the potential to improve children’s self-awareness, attention, self-regulation,
and social relationship skills.

Keywords Mindfulness-based intervention . Children . Qualitative research . School . At-risk children . Self-regulation

The school is an active agent during childhood and adoles- of children and adolescents through strengths-based education
cence development, where children must be educated and and the cultivation of socio-emotional and behavioral skills
their positive development fostered, including the promotion (Mind, & Life Education Research Network, MLERN,
of their cognitive and non-cognitive skills (Greenberg et al., 2012). Additionally, schools are transformative contexts that
2003). Schools in the 21st century not only provide a broad set may serve as ideal universal environments to drive social
of academic skills (e.g., math, reading, writing, and science) changes and reduce the consequences of socioeconomic in-
but also promote the healthy development and mental health equality on development (Downey et al., 2004).
Growing up in a family with low socioeconomic status
(SES) is associated with substantially worse health, and with
* Carlos García-Rubio impaired psychological wellbeing and cognitive and emotion-
[email protected] al development throughout the lifespan (Hackman et al.,
2010). Compared with children from higher SES back-
1
Escuela de Psicología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, grounds, children from low SES backgrounds (i.e., at-risk
Santiago, Chile
children) show higher rates of depression, anxiety, attention
2
Millennium Institute for Research in Depression and Personality problems, and conduct disorders, all of which has been found
(MIDAP), Santiago, Chile
to increase with the condition of impoverishment (Hackman
3
Escuela de Psicología, Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, Santiago, Chile et al., 2010). Childhood SES has also an influence on chil-
4
Department of Biological and Health Psychology, Faculty of dren’s cognitive development, and correlates positively with
Psychology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Calle Iván Pavlov, intelligence, academic achievement, and self-regulation from
6, 28049 Madrid, Spain
 Mindfulness

early childhood through adolescence (Hackman & Farah, (e.g., behaviors oriented by empathy and compassion). Also,
2009). Therefore, growing up in low SES backgrounds (i.e., mindful self-regulation of unpleasant thoughts and emotions
low-income families and neighborhoods) can be considered a at difficult times allows children to relate from a more careful
risk factor for children’s healthy development. approach toward themselves, and to use less maladaptive
Preventive interventions have been incorporated in schools strategies such as self-criticism or rumination, which are risk
to promote children’s development, including mindfulness- factors contributing to the development of early mental health
based initiatives focused on the education of the “whole child” disorders (Lyubomirsky et al., 2015; Neff & McGehee, 2010).
and positive development (Lawlor, 2016). Mindfulness-based Although there has been exponential growth in studies on
interventions (MBIs) in the school context provide a set of the benefits of MBI in schools, some specific recommenda-
practices that help children and adolescents to become aware tions have been made to advance the knowledge and the un-
and able to recognize their mental and behavioral habits and to derstanding of their functioning (Felver et al., 2016). Most of
learn new ways to develop healthy habits of the mind the studies implementing MBIs for children have used a quan-
(Jennings, 2008). In the last decade, there has been an increas- titative methodology to study their impact. However, up to
ing interest in the application of mindfulness in public and date, only a few studies have used qualitative methods, even
educational settings. This has been accompanied by an expo- if a first-person perspective might be necessary to understand
nential growth of empirical research documenting the benefits the effects and functioning of school MBIs on children. Most
of these practices (Schonert-Reichl & Roeser, 2016). studies’ subjects were white children from middle to high
Several models have been used to explain the working socioeconomic class (Ergas & Hadar, 2019; Felver et al.,
mechanisms that underlie the effects of the MBIs in children’s 2016). However, very few studies have evaluated the impact
development (Andreu & García-Rubio, 2019; Maynard et al., of conducting MBIs at school with at-risk children, even
2017; Mendelson et al., 2010; Waters et al., 2015). Different though research shows that the participation of children with
neural and psychological processes have been suggested to these characteristics in an MBI can generate positive benefits
constitute the main mechanisms (including cognitive and on their development and overall functioning (Bluth et al.,
emotional regulation, executive functions, and social skills) 2016; Costello & Lawler, 2014; Viafora et al., 2015).
that lead to several outcomes: children’s wellbeing, mental Therefore, more qualitative research on the effects of school
health, social competence, engagement, and academic MBIs on at-risk children is necessary.
achievement, among others. Specifically, Andreu and Regarding the importance of developing qualitative re-
García-Rubio (2019) suggested that the MBIs conducted in search in mindfulness with young people, Himelstein et al.
classrooms had an impact on relevant outcomes that contrib- (2012) mentioned that “mindfulness researchers have primar-
uted to children’s and adolescents’ development, such as men- ily focused on RCTs to validate mindfulness-based programs
tal health, wellbeing, peer relationships, behavior in the class- as evidence-based, but have left out an important aspect that is
room, and academic performance. These outcomes were ex- a key foundation to mindfulness: the subjective state” (p.,
plained by the improvement of a set of mechanisms, such as 236). The use of qualitative evaluation methods (e.g., semi-
the mindfulness skills (i.e., mindful attention, acceptance, psy- structured interview and focus groups) and data analysis
chological flexibility), cognitive and emotional functioning methods (e.g., thematic analysis) can complement the results
(i.e., attention, executive functions, emotion regulation), and obtained using quantitative research methods about the bene-
social competence (i.e., prosocial dispositions and behaviors fits of school MBIs on children’s development. Specifically,
towards themselves and towards others). qualitative approaches can be useful, among other aspects, to
Children who participate in an MBI learn to develop mind- (1) explore children's experience with and perceptions of the
ful attention (i.e., the ability to regulate their attention, to bring MBIs, (2) understand how children use and integrate the de-
their attention to the present moment, and to monitor and veloped mindfulness skills to cope with the daily challenges,
accept their experience; Lindsay & Creswell, 2019). These (3) explore the meaning that children give to mindfulness
learnings allow them to get in touch with their internal expe- practices, (4) investigate children’s experiences with several
riences and to self-regulate their emotions, thoughts, and be- components of the MBIs to inform future implementations
haviors. Specifically, by settling on a mindful attention mode, and studies, and (5) to understand the mechanisms and pro-
children learn to develop mindfulness-based emotion regula- cesses involved in the functioning of school MBIs.
tion strategies, which consist of the ability to remain attentive Recently, qualitative results of a systematic review of the
and aware of the emotional experience of the present moment effects of school MBIs on children concluded that students
without trying to suppress, reappraise, or alter it in any way experienced benefits in the psychological, emotional, physi-
(Chambers et al., 2009). Mindful self-regulation allows chil- cal, relational, and academic domains with mindfulness
dren to not be driven by unpleasant emotions and thoughts (McKeering & Hwang, 2019). Children perceived that mind-
(e.g., behaviors oriented by anger). Instead, it allows children fulness helped them to feel calm, to reduce their stress and
to connect with prosocial dispositions that lead their behavior anxiety, to be more focused, to better regulate difficult
Mindfulness

emotions, and to react less impulsively. Furthermore, the im- The present study used a qualitative approach to explore
provement of emotion and behavioral regulation through the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral impacts of a school
mindfulness helped students to make more friends, to improve MBI on children who lived in challenging circumstances in
their classroom behavior, and to reduce their test anxiety, all Santiago de Chile (i.e., children from low SES families who
of which contributed to enhance academic performance. lived in a low-resource neighborhood and who were enrolled
Along the same lines, a systematic review and thematic syn- in a low-resource school). We examined if the results of pre-
thesis of qualitative studies of the effect of school-MBIs for vious reports were replicated in a sample of at-risk Chilean
improving mental health identified the following four major children and if new information emerged to contribute to this
themes that summarize the experience of students with MBIs: growing research field
(1) using attentional processes to regulate emotions and cog-
nitions, (2) stress reduction, (3) improved coping and social
skills, and (4) calming and relaxing (Sapthiang et al., 2019). Method
Students perceived that practicing mindfulness increased their
self-awareness and mindful attention, which led them to better Participants
emotional and cognitive regulation.
Results of the research on the impact of the implementation The study participants were 18 fourth and fifth grade at-risk
of MBIs in the school context for children at risk are promis- children of a low-resource school in Santiago de Chile (see
ing. Using a quantitative methodology, Black and Fernando Table 1). The children were taken from a larger group of
(2014) reported that a 5-week mindfulness-based curriculum children who participated in a randomized control trial to as-
improved children’s attention, self-control, participation in ac- sess the effect of mindfulness practices on executive function.
tivities, and care for others in low-income and ethnic minority One hundred twenty-eight children (50.8% female, mean 9.8
elementary school. Sibinga et al. (2016) also showed an im- years old) were randomly selected to receive the mindfulness
provement in psychological functioning and a decrease of intervention program “GrowingUp Breathing” (experimental
trauma-associated symptoms in a group of at-risk urban stu- group, n = 67) or the Social Skills intervention program
dents (i.e., 99% of the sample were eligible for getting free or “Skills for Life” (active control group, n = 61).
reduced price meals, which is an indirect index of socioeco- Three criteria were followed to select a sample of at-risk
nomic disadvantage) after participating in a 12-week MBI. children. First, a low-resource neighborhood (i.e., Comuna de
Employing a qualitative methodology, Costello and Lawler Cerrillos) was chosen. This neighborhood has a high percent-
(2014) interviewed 16 children from lower socioeconomic age of schools qualified as “first-priority school” (i.e., schools
backgrounds, finding that students perceived a greater present with students with high socioeconomic risk), a high number of
moment awareness and self-regulation (i.e., less emotional school-students who drop out of school, and a high rate of low
reactivity) with mindfulness practice. Similarly, Dariotis month income families (to access detailed data about Comuna
et al. (2016), by using focus groups, examined the effects of de Cerrillos see, https://es.datachile.io/geo/region-
the implementation of a 16-week MBI experience on 22 chil- metropolitana-santiago-13/cerrillos-35). Second, a low-
dren from highly disadvantaged urban communities with high resource school with a high social vulnerability index (in
rates of poverty and crime, low SES families, and who had Spanish, Índice de Vulnerabilidad Escolar, or IVE), provided
difficulties in reading and math competencies. The MBI by the Ministry of Education of Chile, was selected. The
helped children to develop greater emotional awareness and National Board of School Assistance and Scholarships (in
emotional regulation skills, which helped them to manage Spanish, Junta Nacional de Auxilio Escolar y Becas, or
negative emotions such as anger, to not react so impulsively, JUNAEB) evaluates the school-risk vulnerability based on
and to calm down. an interaction of a set of risk factors and protective factors of
Although the results described above are promising, a social, economic, psychological, cultural, environmental,
most of the studies conducted up to date to evaluate the and biological nature. This evaluation leads to the social vul-
impact of school MBIs on at-risk children that were carried nerability index that reflects the inequality between subjects,
out in North American and European school settings, families, and communities (to find more information on the
which makes it difficult to generalize the findings to other IVE, is available at: http://junaebabierta.junaeb.cl/mapas/
school contexts around the world. For example, to our indice-de-vulnerabilidad-por-comuna/). The school selected
knowledge, no study has been carried out in Latin to participate in the study had a high vulnerability index
America to explore the impact of school MBIs for at-risk (78% to 100%), which indicates that a large percentage of
children using a qualitative methodology. It is essential to its students lived in extreme poverty conditions and had a
conduct research beyond North American and European high risk of school failure and dropout. Third, low SES
school settings to advance the understanding of the impact families (i.e., low-income families) were selected. Table 1
and functioning of school MBIs. shows the family monthly income and the number of family
 Mindfulness

Table 1 Summary of demographic information for both groups were carried out with adequate understanding of the partici-
Variable Qualitative study sample Total sample pants. Parents provided written informed consent, and chil-
(N = 18) (N = 128)a dren provided written informed permission before any data
was acquired. The study’s general characteristics and require-
Age M = 9.9; SD = 0.67 M = 9.8; SD = 0.71 ments were explained to the school board. Once the school
Gender (%) agreed to participate in the study, an orientation session with
Females 61.1 50.8 the parents of the selected children was held. The characteris-
Males 38.9 49.2 tics of the study and the interventions were explained, inviting
Family structure (%) them to sign the informed consent. All the parents agreed. The
2 members 14.3 7.7 semi-structured individual interviews with the selected chil-
3 members 21.4 9.9 dren were led by a member of the research team who has
4 members 21.4 38.5 experience in clinical psychology and holds a Ph.D. In addi-
5 members 21.4 24.2 tion, this researcher had not been directly involved in the
> 5 members 21.4 19.8 intervention. All the interviews were conducted during school
Family month income (%)b hours. The children were allowed to leave their regular class
< 200 USD 0 3 for being interviewed. When a child finished the interview, the
200–400 USD 28.6 39 interviewer accompanied him back to his classroom. This
400–680 USD 42.9 44 procedure was followed with all the selected children until
680–1000 USD 21.4 11 all the interviews were conducted.
> 1000 USD 7.1 3
a
The “Total Sample” is from the larger study where the data are not Mindfulness-based Intervention Description
reported on as part of the current study but are helpful in understanding
how the small sample compares to the total sample
b
As a contextual background, the average income in Chile is 550 USD GrowingUp Breathing program is a secular manualized
per month, while the minimum salary is 414 USD per month (Instituto mindfulness-based intervention for children from 7 to 12 years
Nacional de Estadística; INE, 2018). The cost of living in Chile is con- old, specifically designed to be implemented in the school
sidered high compared to other Latin American countries, which is illus- context (García-Rubio & Luna-Jarillo, 2017; García-Rubio
trated in some of the following economic indicators. According to Statista
(2020), the price of public transport in Santiago is the highest in Latin & Luna-Jarillo, 2019). GrowingUp Breathing is framed with-
America, with a monthly cost of 58.3 USD per month. Santiago has the in the SEL interventions theoretical framework, and its design,
highest value in Latin America per square meter of rent, with $ 3021 per structure, function, and methodology follow the conceptuali-
square meter (Di Tella-Navent, 2020). The price of electric power is also zation of MBIs suggested by Crane et al. (2017). The pro-
the third highest, with a value of 186 USD/MWh (SEG Ingeniería, 2019).
According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and gram’s general objective is to foster children’s socio-emotion-
Development economic report (OECD, 2018) in Chile, there is a context al, cognitive, and academic development. Specifically, the
of high social inequality, the Gini factor of Chile reaches 45%, while the objectives of the GrowingUp Breathing program are to im-
average of the OECD countries is 30%. The relative poverty rate in Chile prove children’s (1) mindfulness skills (i.e., mental and body
is 16.1% in 2015, which is still high by OECD standards
awareness, mindful attention, acceptance, psychological flex-
ibility); (2) attention and self-regulation processes (i.e., exec-
members. It shows a meager salary income relative to the utive function and emotional regulation); (3) prosocial dispo-
number of family members. sitions with themselves and with others (i.e., empathy, kind-
The students that participated in the semi-structured inter- ness, compassion); and (4) mental health, wellbeing, peer- and
views after the MBI were selected following a criterion sam- teacher-student relationships, engagement and willingness to
pling. This method consists of selecting information-rich learn, classroom behavior, and academic performance.
cases based upon some criterion considered relevant (Patton, The GrowingUp Breathing program consists of nine ses-
2002). In our study, we selected a sample of the most com- sions, a 55-min session each week. Each of the nine sessions is
municative children from the mindfulness intervention group. divided into three modules (Attention, Self-Regulation, and
The selection of the children was informed and supported by Kindness modules), plus an integration and summary session.
the classroom teacher. It follows a sequential structure through the modules that un-
derlie a logic model of change. Attentional training allows the
improvement of self-regulation processes, which increases the
Procedure probability of developing reflexive, non-reactive, and
prosocial behaviors. Essential elements of the intervention
The Pontifícia Universidad Católica de Chile’s ethics commit- include mindfulness practices, an inquiry process,
tee approved the study (ID170113010), and all procedures psychoeducation, exercises and games, and a practice per
Mindfulness

week (see the detailed program provided in the Data Analyses

Supplementary material, Table S1).
The methodology of the program is experiential, interac- Grounded theory procedures were followed to analyze the
tive, participatory, and student-centered. It combines tradition- semi-structured interviews (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss
al third-person knowledge-based learning (psychoeducation) & Corbin, 1998). According to Glaser and Strauss (1967), this
with first-person experiential learning through mindfulness approach allows combining novel information based on the
practices. The learning methodology follows the Kolb participants’ narratives and developing an emerging system-
Experiential Learning Model (Yeganeh & Kolb, 2009). atic theory. Grounded theory method is an inductive approach
Throughout the program, the facilitator talks with the children based on the process of constant comparison, which involves
to help them to become aware of their experiences during the the definition and redefinition of concepts that emerge from
mindfulness practice (i.e., thoughts, emotions, and feelings), data analysis and the establishment of relationships between
to explore their behavioral and relationship patterns with their the concepts (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). The analysis of the
experience, and to explore the implications that their behav- transcript interviews consisted of reducing the data and gen-
iors may have on their own lives. In the study, an experienced erating topics through open, axial, and selective coding pro-
psychologist and mindfulness instructor provided the program cesses to generate the theory with an interconnected storyline.
as part of the standard classroom instruction during regular Each transcript interview was analyzed individually to carry
school hours. out a comparative analysis of the data. In the open coding
phase, a triangulation process was followed by the research
team members, first individually and then discussing among
Measures themselves, to generate concepts, and to classify them in cate-
gories. Two researchers designed the categories to protect reli-
Data were collected during the semi-structured interviews. ability. When doubts arose, a third researcher was included to
The main aim of the interviews was to identify and understand the discussion. All the researchers read the transcripts of the
children’s experiences and learning capacity before, during, interviews on multiple occasions and assigned codes or labels
and after their participation in the MBI. Special attention was to the contents about thoughts, emotions, or behaviors related to
given to the information related to the mechanisms that could the MBI. Data were grouped in the identified categories.
underlie the MBI. The interviews took place about 2 weeks According to Strauss and Corbin (1998), line-by-line analysis
after the end of the intervention. Earlier studies suggest that and constant comparative analyses is the most generative meth-
children can remember and report past experiences with accu- od. Therefore, this method was used throughout the process.
racy over very long periods (e.g., Fivush et al., 1995), and that Once the data were categorized, the axial coding phase was
the use of open-ended questions about past experiences favors conducted. The purpose of axial coding, designed through an
the accurate recovery of memories (Almeida et al., 2019). The agreement of the research team, was to account for significant
interviews lasted about 10–15 min and were recorded. and transversal phenomena reported by the participants in an
Subsequently, they were transcribed in textual form. orderly manner. Data were organized based on the similarities
Guiding questions were used to guide the interviews (see and connections between the categories developed during the
Supplementary material, Appendix). In order to generate a open coding phase. Categories were linked as a central phe-
safe and reliable climate, the interviews began by asking the nomenon during axial coding by relationships, indicating
children how they were and how their day was going. causal relationships, context, intervening conditions, and con-
Thereafter, children were asked about their experience with sequences for the phenomenon (Creswell, 1998; Strauss &
the intervention. In particular, they were asked about their Corbin, 1998). Finally, the researchers recognized a storyline,
perceptions about (a) learnings during the intervention, (b) which lead to a core category that integrated the previously
behavioral changes experienced as a consequence of the inter- identified categories. Categories were selected and combined
vention, (c) activities of the intervention that they had liked the to provide an emerging theory about the impact and function-
most and the main reasons, (d) the usefulness of what they had ing of the MBI in the school with children living in challeng-
learned during the intervention and their potential applicabil- ing circumstances.
ity in different contexts (e.g., school, home, daily life), (e) the
influence of the intervention in their relationships with others
and with themselves, and (f) comfort or discomfort feelings Results
experienced during the intervention. In each section, follow-
up questions were used to get further information and to clar- Descriptive Analysis
ify the participant responses. At the end of the interview, par-
ticipants were invited to share other meaningful personal ex- From the descriptive analysis of the interviews, seven main
periences beyond the interviewer's questions. categories were identified. These categories include the
 Mindfulness

emotional state of children before the MBI, the children’s 106-107); and they understood the importance of taking care
main lessons after the intervention, their impressions about of their body: “[before the program,] I used to fall down and I
the program’s core elements, and the changes that they had didn’t take care of myself, and now if I fall down, I clean
experienced in themselves and their context during the myself well because I feel that my body also matters” (E15:
intervention. 88-89).
Children described a set of learnings associated with their
Dissatisfaction State Before the Intervention and Intention ability to consciously relate themselves with their emotions,
to Feel Better both unpleasant (fear, anger, anxiety), and pleasant.
Regarding the pleasant emotions, the children reported to be
Children described a state of dissatisfaction and discomfort more open when they perceived them, “the joy is coming to
before participating in the MBI. They described a state of me, I breathe… With those little things, like bringing light to
low mood, characterized by sadness, “before being part of my soul, and I start calling those emotions... the peace and the
the program I didn’t feel good about myself, I didn’t have joy that I feel, and I can use, after the mindfulness program”
the life I wanted, I was always bitter” (E1: 94-95; extract of (E1: 221-225); “Because I felt better…, I thought about some-
the transcript interview carried out with the participant number thing good, and I calmed down ... I enjoyed it and took ad-
1, corresponding to lines 94-95). Children also showed a way vantage of it” (E8: 111-112). Regarding unpleasant emotions,
of relating to themselves based on self-critical judgment, “be- children described that they had learned to be more aware
fore, I judged my body” (E2: 68), attributing it mainly to their about their emotions, to be able to recognize their emotions
impulsive behaviors. “Before, I used to say things without when they arise, and to regulate them, “... instead of acting
thinking, and sometimes I was disturbed very quickly” (E5: impulsively, we should stop and breathe” (E14: 4-5). The use
53-54). Along with the state of discomfort, the children re- of breathing was often highlighted as a tool that would help
ported their need to feel better. Children showed their desire to them to be able to handle unpleasant emotions, instead of
feel better, “I want to feel good about myself” (E1: 211). In reacting immediately, stopping to think before, “I learned that
this category, children expressed that they wanted to be better when you breathe you calm down, relax and if you are going
so that others would stop being worried about them “I also to do something that you don’t think about it, with your breath
want other people to see that I am feeling good and to not you can think about it before” (E4: 12-13); “I used to be
worry too much because I am already a big girl” (E1: 212- impulsive, but with the program, now I think about the things
213). Children also showed to be aware of the negative con- that I am going to do before doing them” (E3: 14-15); “when
sequences of over-reacting, both for themselves and for we are very agitated, when we think a lot, we have to calm
others, and acknowledged that experiencing pleasant emo- down… Because otherwise, we cannot think well and do what
tions had positive consequences. we want” (E17: 71-74).
The most commonly mentioned learning associated with
Main Learnings and Benefits of the Mindfulness-based non-reactivity was to not react with impulsivity and aggres-
Intervention sively: “mindfulness helped me to calm down ... when I get
angry, and I want to hit someone who bothered me, I used to
This category is the most robust and the most frequently men- do it. Now I breathe, and I don’t do it” (E11: 8 -10); “When I
tioned by children. Children mentioned that they had learned was angry, all the emotions came together and I had to do
different things. They mentioned that they had being able to something impulsive, but now, with the program, when I feel
recognize and increase their self-awareness, “that also helped anger, I can let it go. I begin to say: what do I have to do to get
me, because I became aware about my feelings and thoughts rid of my anger? It can be breathing, talking to someone, but
and, at that moment, I realized that I had calmed down” (E54- just talking, instead of fighting or “you did this to me,” “I did
55). They also experienced an increase in their relaxation and this to you” “... no, not like that. Breathing with the emotions...
tranquility: “At the end of the sessions of the program, I feel the breath and the anchor of the breath have helped me a lot”
calmer” (E6: 46); “It helps me to relax… I do it when I can’t (E1: 154-161). Another learning associated with non-
sleep, and it helps me, it’s easier now” (E2: 40). Their body reactivity was to let thoughts go instead of reacting to them
awareness also increased: “I began to calm down ... and I immediately: “let thoughts go when you want to forget some-
watched my body” (E8: 6); “It thing, and it costs a lot, just as they come… let them flow, and
s about relaxing, about feeling the body” (E15: 6); “I like they are going to go on their own” (E18: 4-6); “then, it was
when we did the breathing practices, to feel all the parts of our necessary to let it happen… the thoughts for me before the
body, maybe when you’re so distressed or angry, you don’t program were like “oh, get out of my head!” and I tried to get
even feel them. When we started doing this program, our them out, but I don’t do that anymore” (E15: 17).
bodies began to relax, and we felt parts of it that perhaps we Another learning that children mentioned quite frequently
had never felt before we were part of the program…” (E1: was related to a better treatment of oneself: “(now) I treat
Mindfulness

myself better” (E9: 82). Children used a kinder and less self- Feasibility and Acceptance of the MBI
critical speech about themselves: “I didn’t like how I used to
be, I mean, the physical body, but now I don’t criticize that The children perceived the MBI viable, “It is a very good
anymore” (E2: 62-63); “You always have good things” (E16: program” (E8: 4); “At the beginning, they didn’t want to do
24). Children carry out more self-regulation and self-care it (the classmates), but then they were calming down, and they
strategies that are more self-compassionate, “I used to get could do it. In general, everyone could enjoy the whole pro-
angry about making mistakes and now, when I get angry gram” (E4: 70-71). They also mentioned that the MBI was
about doing something wrong, I calm down, and I hug myself. entertaining and fun, “That it was fun to be in the program”
I do not mistreat myself, because it will do me bad later” (E13: (E9: 98); “That it was entertaining” (E18: 4), and useful for
66-67); “I used to do crazy things, I was jumping from the bed themselves and for all their classmates: “I would explain that it
to the floor, and now I don’t... now I think, take care,” “I can helped me a lot and for my other classmates also” (E1: 6-7);
break my arm, I can break my foot” (E18: 107-108). The “That program helped me a lot, it really helped all my class-
emergence of relational learnings is also meaningful. These mates” (E4: 70). Besides, the children mentioned that they
include listening more to others and not judging others nega- would recommend the intervention to their friends, “I would
tively, performing actions that help others, “Helping peers if recommend the program to others” (E14: 75); “As a friend, I
they need it, helping them without expecting anything in re- would explain that this was a very beautiful adventure” (E4:
turn” (E17: 53), act compassionately with those who are hav- 70-71). Therefore, the MBI was viable and well accepted by
ing a difficult time, and give preference to dialogue rather than children.
discussion, “welcoming a partner when nobody wants him…
they don’t want to play with him, because he has so many Transference and Application of Learnings
defects and things like that ... If there are people who say he is Outside the Classroom
ugly, dirty, disgusting, filthy ... only bad things, I respond that
this person is intelligent, sweet with many people, affectionate The fifth category refers to the transfer of learnings to contexts
with many people... and I change all the bad things they say other than the classroom. The children pointed out that they
for good things” (E1: 234-239). applied what they learned in the MBI with their classmates
during school hours out of class: “when you are angry because
Meaningful Core Practices of the MBI a classmate bothers you,” we say “breathe, remember the
mindfulness classes we did, you have to breathe, you also
The participants mentioned the practices and exercises that have to raise your hand before talking... we begin to remember
had been meaningful for them during the MBI. They everything we did in the program” (E1: 90-92); “When I play
highlighted the practices that had invited them to feel the soccer, I get upset quickly and then I calm down” (E2: 24).
body, “Closing the eyes and analyzing the body from the feet They also said that they were using what they had learned in
to the top of the head and from the head to the feet every time extra-curricular activities and with their families, particularly
the body breaths and then releases” (E5: 10-11), and to be- during discussions with their siblings and parents, “when I get
come aware of their breath before reacting: “I learned that mad at my sister, I sometimes use it, because she blames me,
when you breathe you calm down, relax and if you are going sometimes I want to throw away everything. It makes me very
to do something that you don’t think about it, with your breath angry and anguished, and I start to take a deep breath and I…
you can think about it before” (E4: 12-13). They also start saying to me: this is going to be over, this always happens
highlighted practices that had invited them to recognize their to me, and then it ends. And I breath, and it finishes, and I
own sensations through their senses, like the mindful eating continue doing what I was doing” (E1: 14-18); “I used to
practice, “we can recognize things with the touch or with other respond very badly to my mother and now I do not do it
senses other than the sight” (E17: 18-20), and relational kind- anymore” (E15: 78).
ness practices where children could recognize and express
positive qualities of their classmates: “it was useful when we Benefits of the MBI in the School and Family Climate
had to throw the wool to other person and say good things
about him/her because one felt good, and because they In the sixth category, the interviewees indicated the positive
(classmates) said something good about me, and also because effects of what they had learned in the intervention on other
I said something good to another person” (E8: 62-64); “With people, such as their classmates and family. They perceived a
the wool activity, we realized that we were not alone, that change in the behavior of their classmates, moving from a
everything happened to all of us” (E17: 51); “We got good hostile and aggressive behavior to a calmer and more relaxed
messages, some bad messages... but I realized that my class- one, improving the classroom environment: “Yes, we are
mates love me as I am and that I love them as they are” (E13: much more relaxed than what we were before the interven-
125-126). tion” (E7: 32); “The classmates have changed ... Like Javier
 Mindfulness

(pseudonym), he no longer hits other children ... My class- had learned had had an impact on their daily lives: “I use it
mates are more relaxed” (E15: 69-73). They emphasize that almost every day” (E9: 52), and that after the mindfulness
the intervention had generated a more respectful, inclusive, intervention, they increased their autonomy competence and
validating, supportive, prosocial and classroom supportive- feeling of self-efficacy: “Then, when they tell you that you
environment: “Now, when they speak, at least we respect have made a change, the change is in your head and you will
the person who is speaking” (E2: 83- 84); “I liked the weeks not be like “ah, I already did the change, I wrote the subject,
with the program because I felt more included in the group” and I’m done, now I’m leaving,” no, the change remains here
(E3: 7-8); “We have improved friendship because sometimes in the head and here in the heart!” (E1: 50-53); “I say to me,
we didn’t get along so well” (E14: 68); “Before, I didn’t for example, if I am ashamed or if I am going to do something,
get along with some classmates so well, but now I do” (E5: I say: “calm down, nothing will happen to you. You have to be
39); “Before, they did not do the homework, they just copied confident” (E8: 99-100); “With the program, with the things
them. After the mindfulness program, we had geometry class. that the teachers taught us… I put it in my brain, and it started
Before the program, everyone behaved badly, but now (after to help me a lot because all those things didn’t reach my brain
the program) not anymore” (E5: 36-37). before” (E1: 173-174).
The children expressed that the intervention had had indi-
rect effects on their parents’ behavior, such as greater regula- Axial Analysis 1
tion of their emotions and calmer behavior: “Before the mind-
fulness program, there were always fights in my family, and I An axial analysis was performed from the descriptive analysis
started talking about mindfulness classes, that if I had a prob- results to systematize the processes and dynamics identified
lem at home, I could talk, and I talked to my parents, and when from the children’s discourses. First, two experiential cycles
my parents started to fight, they calmed down” (E16: 86-88). are recognized, described in Fig. 1—Reactivity and self-
The children also taught their brothers, friends, and neighbors regulation cycle. These two cycles have an internal coherence,
what they had learned during the intervention: “Every day that and at the same time, they modulate each other by feedback.
you come (to her brother), I am going to teach you something We have called “Reactivity Cycle” to this first cycle. The
of what they taught me in the program, and I began to say Reactivity Cycle triggers an emotional state (unpleasant emo-
“breathe when you are angry” and all those things, and now he tional state of sadness and bitterness), which has a behavioral
is like a normal child with the classmates who bother him” correlate (impulsive/reactive action), which, in turn, eventual-
(E16: 257-260); “I told my mother what we were doing, and ly leads to a thought or cognition (a self-critical judgment).
she told me that it was good because it helped me a lot. So, I This cycle continually feeds on, creating an escalation and
helped my mother to do things or to help others” (E8: 82-84). leading to a more reactive state each time. A clear example
Finally, the children’s recollections also show that their par- in the children’s discourse is the following: The emotion of
ents had a closer relationship with them as a result of the anger leads to impulsive/reactive behavior, leading to a critical
intervention: “I started to do a massage (to my mother) and judgment towards themselves because of the impulsive be-
told her “breathe deep three times, start to move all your at- havior that has been carried out before, which in turn
tention to your head, all your attention to your heart, to your strengthens the unpleasant emotional state. However, it is cru-
soul, to your legs…” I began to do so, and then she relaxed a cial to note that this cycle can begin or conclude in any of its
lot… the class helped her, and her mindset changed, she is no components: emotion, thought, or behavior. The children de-
longer acting like crazy and all those things. Now she is hap- scribed feelings identified and affected by this cycle of reac-
py, she plays with us” (E1: 113-118). tivity, especially before performing the intervention.
After the assimilation of the described learnings during the
Children’s Perceptions and Feelings About Their Changes intervention, a second cycle was recognized. It describes the
children’s behavior and we have called it the “Self-Regulation
Finally, in the seventh category, children shared their impres- Cycle.” The self-regulation cycle is characterized by offering
sions about the quality of what they had learned during the an alternative at a higher logical level than the first cycle
intervention. They pointed out that what they had learned was described above and emerges as an alternative to being in-
meaningful, and that they had been able to internalize it: “So, I volved and trapped in the reactivity cycle. The self-
liked that class a lot, because it taught me a lot” (E4: 34); “It regulation cycle, like the reactivity cycle, has three compo-
helped me a lot in school, in my house and to me… because I nents: an emotional or emotional awareness component, de-
realized many things that I didn’t see before” (E8: 128-129). scribed as the ability to regulate emotion; a behavioral com-
Their responses indicate that they had an integral and embod- ponent, described as the ability to do not react impulsively and
ied learning; “...because sometimes I feel very restless, angry, act with greater awareness; and a cognitive, or meta-cognitive
sad, excited and I think about that program, and I do what the component, that children described as the ability to let
teacher taught us” (E4: 83-84). They mentioned that what they thoughts go and to do not judge. Besides, the emotional,
Mindfulness

Fig. 1 Reactivity and self-

regulation cycle

cognitive, and behavioral dimensions are integrated when peers, which is between the relational and narrative domain.
children described speaking to themselves in a less self- Finally, in the narrative field, skills such as talking to oneself
critical and more gentle and self-compassionate way. to calm down and stop self-criticism were also described.
In Fig. 1, the continuous arrows in each of the cycle com- In summary, Fig. 2 shows that implementing the MBI in
ponents reflect the maintenance in the reactivity cycle. In con- the school context led to the development of self-awareness
trast, the dashed arrows reflect children’s possibility to leave skills that facilitates the emergence of a set of socio-emotional
the reactivity cycle and to move to the self-regulation cycle. skills and new behaviors. Development of self-awareness
Children described how they used mindfulness to move from (bodily and mental awareness) allows children to improve
the reactivity cycle to the self-regulation cycle. their self-regulation skills (less reactivity), which facilitates a
better attitude and behavior towards themselves (less self-
Axial Analysis 2 critical voice) and towards others (relating affectionately with
others and altruistic behaviors). The methodology used in this
Figure 2, entitled “Development of Mind-Body Skills,” is a study does not allow inferring the sequence of the develop-
radial figure that expands from the center to the periphery. It ment of skills throughout the intervention. However, one pos-
has two levels. One is the nuclear or primary level (self-aware- sible approach is that the development of self-awareness
ness), which development allows the development of skills at through the practice of mindfulness could lead to improve
the secondary level (emotional, behavioral, narrative, social, children’ self-regulation, which would in turn eventually al-
and cognitive skills). The nuclear or primary level refers to the low them to take better care of themselves and to other people
development of attentional and self-awareness skills. Children around them.
described their ability to breathe consciously and to be aware
about their bodies. Children pointed out that having a greater
ability of self-awareness had allowed them to develop emo- Discussion
tional skills, such as being able to recognize and to regulate
unpleasant emotions, and to recognize and being open to The present qualitative study shows that an MBI with children
pleasant feelings. Children also described the development living in challenging circumstances was viable and well ac-
of new behavioral skills (such as the ability to avoid reacting cepted by the children who were part of the intervention.
automatically and to control their behavior), as well as new Besides, according to the children’s feedback, the intervention
cognitive and meta-cognitive skills (such as the ability to let had a broad impact on several domains of their cognitive and
thoughts go and to not judge others). This last ability con- socio-emotional learning. Interviews with the children that
verges with the emergence of social skills, such as listening were part of the study revealed that the MBI contributed to
carefully and compassionately, having affectionate conversa- the development of their self-awareness, attention, self-regu-
tions, and developing altruistic behavior towards their peers. lation, and social relationship skills. Children described that
Children expressed affectionate qualifications towards their they had experienced behavioral changes in the relationship
 Mindfulness

Fig. 2 Development of mind–

body skills

with themselves and with others, being significantly more The second axial model (Fig. 2) explains the development
mindful with themselves and with others. Consequently, there of several skills (cognitive, emotional, social, and narrative)
was a better relational climate in the classroom and the indi- once that they are settled in a more conscious/mindful mode.
vidual and group wellbeing improved. Given the context and The increase of self-awareness allows children to take advan-
the population where the MBIs and SEL programs have been tage of a broader set of attentional resources in their daily life.
applied with children, this research provides evidence of the First, by practicing mindful attention, children become aware
positive effects of the implementation of such interventions of their body, and of their mental, and behavioral habits.
with at-risk children. Therefore, our study suggests and sup- When they are settled in a mindful attention mode, children
ports the beneficial effects that mindfulness practices have on are able to develop a wide range of new personal skills (e.g.,
children’s mental health, including children at high-risk less reactivity and letting thoughts pass). In turn, these skills
contexts. allow them to have a more conscious attitude and behavior
The results described in this study show a comprehen- towards themselves (e.g., self-critical reduction narratives and
sive learning process of the children who participated in talk to themselves to calm down) and towards others (e.g.,
the MBI. This process involved emotional, cognitive, and relate affectionately with classmates, teachers, and family
behavioral components, which were described both in the members). Therefore, practicing mindfulness, observing and
reactivity cycle and in the cycle of self-regulation of the recognizing emotional states, and learning to not to react to
axial model 1 (Fig. 1). Both cycles reflect two different them, allows children to develop a “care relationship” mode,
ways to relate to experience and difficulties. During the as suggested in the model developed in Andreu and García-
intervention, the mindfulness practices helped children to Rubio (2019). We believe that this mode of relationship is
move from the cycle of reactivity to the cycle of self- essential for children to be able to adapt to challenging and
regulation (a more mindful mode of behavior). Children emotionally demanding contexts. Our results are in line with
reported that they had experienced an essential change in previous qualitative systematic reviews showing the develop-
their daily behavior, which had generated them greater ment of several skills as a result of practicing mindfulness.
satisfaction, self-control, autonomy, and less frustration. Children experienced benefits in the psychological, emotion-
Our results are clearly in line with previous studies and al, physical, relational, and academic domains (McKeering &
systematic reviews showing that children perceived that Hwang, 2019; Sapthiang et al., 2019).
practicing mindfulness helped them to reduce their stress, Our qualitative results can generate or support several hy-
to better regulate difficult emotions (commonly anger), potheses regarding the mechanisms of action of MBIs in the
and to react less impulsively (McKeering & Hwang, school context and support several models that explain them
2019; Sapthiang et al., 2019). (Andreu & García-Rubio, 2019; Maynard et al., 2017;
Mindfulness

Mendelson et al., 2010; MLERN, 2012; Waters et al., 2015). their body sensations and to act consciously, which has
We suggest that cognitive/attentional processes and self- been called “willful embodiment” (Rashedi & Schonert-
regulation (emotional regulation) and social skills are possible Reichl, 2019).
mechanisms used by MBIs to modulate their effect in several
outcomes such as children’s wellbeing, mental health, social
Limitations and Future Research
relationships, engagement, classroom climate, and academic
achievement (i.e., Andreu & García-Rubio, 2019).
The present study provides valuable information about the
Interestingly, although these models were not designed to ex-
effects of an MBI in at-risk children. However, it has some
plain how MBIs work with at-risk children, our results suggest
limitations that should be noted. First, only a small group of
that the benefits and processes involved could be similar.
children who participated in the intervention group were
Similarly, previous studies that assessed the effects of
interviewed. Teachers or parents, whose points of view could
implementing MBIs in the school context for children living
have complemented the information obtained or made visible
in challenging circumstances showed that practicing mindful-
other effects, were not interviewed. Second, children were
ness improved children’s attention, self-control, emotional
only interviewed once at the end of the intervention. There
awareness and regulation, care for others, and reduced
were no further follow-up interviews to explore the mainte-
trauma-associated symptoms and emotional reactivity (Black
nance or extinction of the learnings expressed initially by the
& Fernando, 2014; Costello & Lawler, 2014; Dariotis et al.,
children. Further studies could conduct follow-up interviews
2016; Sibinga et al., 2016). Thus, school MBIs can be useful
to deepen the long-term effects of MBIs on children’s lives
to improve self-regulation skills in at-risk children and can be and their direct and indirect contexts. Third, the most commu-
applied to the Latin American school context, which had not
nicative children from one school were selected for the inter-
been explored previously.
views. Therefore, the fact that the children were not randomly
Our qualitative results could inform future studies seeking selected makes it difficult to generalize the results. Future
to assess mediators and moderators with quantitative
studies could interview children from different schools to up-
methodology. Our results suggest that mindfulness practices
scale the results shown here and use a case selection criterion
constitute a protective resource for children living in
that includes less communicative children, which could allow
challenging circumstances. According to Dariotis et al.
knowing another relevant dimension of students’ experiences
(2016) model, children living in vulnerable contexts are at risk
with the intervention. Finally, although children did not report
of developing impaired cognitive and emotional regulation
ambivalent or negative experiences, we did not ask directly
systems. These authors propose that MBIs support the devel-
about these possible feelings during the interviews. Therefore,
opment of cognitive and emotional regulation skills that may
we cannot rule out that some students may have had negative
protect children against early and chronic stress and adversity
experiences. Future studies should explore any negative expe-
exposure that children living in vulnerable circumstances may
rience of the mindfulness practice or the MBIs.
face. The results also show that the impulsive behavior that
children in vulnerable contexts might develop could be re-
duced by MBI, which help them to not remain “in the cycle
of reactivity,” and to improve their self-regulation skills, and
to build a lifestyle with greater individual and relational Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary
wellbeing. These results are in line with quantitative studies material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01624-6.
that show the positive effects of MBIs on increasing children’s
resilience to stress (Zenner et al., 2014). Acknowledgments A special appreciation is expressed to the children
who participated in the study, as well as to their parents, teachers, and
The feedback given by the children who were all the school community, all of whom made this study possible. Also, a
interviewed confirms the importance of SEL skills in an special thanks to all research assistants for their valuable help in the
enacted way. That is, a learning that goes beyond content. different phases of this project, and to Teodoro Luna-Jarillo for his sup-
Our results show that children have not only been able to port in the implementation of the mindfulness-based program.
understand what mindfulness is but have also been able to
Authors’ Contributions CIA, CAV, CGR conceived and designed the
put mindfulness into practice and to feel its usefulness study. CIA, CAV, CGR performed the data acquisition. CIA, CAV,
and meaning. To face the challenges and obstacles expe- CGR analyzed the data and/or interpreted the findings. CIA, CAV,
rienced by children living in challenging circumstances, CGR wrote the manuscript. All authors reviewed and approved the final
preventive interventions in the school context are espe- version of the manuscript for submission.
cially relevant, in comparison to only receive theoretical
Funding This study was funded by the European Varela Award Grant
lessons about strategies but without having the possibility
from Mind and Life Europe (Grant # 2016-EVarela-Garcia Rubio) to
to practice and enact them (Varela et al., 1991). Catherine Andreu (CIA) and Carlos García-Rubio (CGR). In addition,
Somehow, children begin to develop the ability to attune this study was supported by the Fund for Innovation and Competitiveness
 Mindfulness

(FIC) of the Chilean Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism, Fivush, R., Haden, C., & Adam, S. (1995). Structure and coherence of
through the Millennium Scientific Initiative, Grant [IS 130005-MIDAP to preschoolers’ personal narratives over time: Implications for child-
CIA] and by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture, and hood amnesia. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 60(1),
Sport (FPU13/ 01677) to CGR. 32–56. https://doi.org/10.1006/jecp.1995.1030.
García-Rubio, C. & Luna-Jarillo, T. L. (2017). El programa Crecer
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Ethics Approval All procedures performed in these studies involving García-Rubio, C. & Luna-Jarillo, T. L. (2019). Crecer Respirando: man-
human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the ual de intervención (edición de 2019) (unpublished manuscript).
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile institutional research committee
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Mindfulness

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