Impact of a Mindfulness-based Intervention on Well-being and Mental Health of Elementary School Children

Symptoms of Mental Health Disorders

Children completed selected items from the self-report version of the anxiety (three items, e.g., "I worry about little things"), depression (five items, e.g., "Nothing ever goes right for me") and inattention (4 items, e.g., " I forget to do things") subscales of the Behavior Assessment Scale for Children (BASC II)

Time frame: Baseline, post-intervention (10 weeks)

Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction

Participants rated how competent, autonomous, and related they felt in school, by answering a nine-item scale adapted from a scale used in a previous, similar study \[57\]. Children were asked to rate their agreement with items such as "In school, I feel free to be myself" (autonomy); "I am able to reach my goals" (competence) and "In my relationship with others, I feel appreciated" (relatedness) on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (almost never) to 5 (almost always).

Time frame: Baseline, post-intervention (10 weeks)

Process Measure

Finally, participants completed the Mindful Attention and Awareness Scale for Children (e.g., "I find it hard to stay focused on what's happening in the present moment."; \[58\]) to evaluate pre-to-post changes in their mindfulness abilities. They rated their agreement with each item on a 6-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (never) to 6 (almost always). A higher score on this scale indicates lower levels of mindfulness.

Time frame: Baseline, post-intervention (10 weeks)