Comparative Effects and Social Validation of Support Strategies to Promote Mindfulness Practices Among High School Students

Abstract

We compared the effects of support strategies for promoting formal mindfulness practices of 9th grade high school students who participated in a 10-week school-based mindfulness education program. The students also completed social validity ratings of the support strategies they selected and the formal mindfulness practices they learned. All of the support strategies were associated with increased average minutes of formal mindfulness practices. Students who did not select an extra support strategy also had increased minutes of formal mindfulness practices but of less magnitude in contrast to the two most effective strategies. The social validity ratings of the support strategies ranged from equivocal to good approval, and the students gave positive ratings to the majority of formal mindfulness practices. We discuss the implications of these findings for designing mindfulness education programs, implementing practice-promoting support strategies, and conducting mindfulness research with school children and youth.

Keywords:

• High school students
• meditation
• mindfulness education
• mindfulness practices
• social validity

Acknowledgment

We acknowledge the head-of-school, faculty, and students of Middlesex School for supporting the mindfulness education program evaluated in this study.