Positive Mental Health Strategies Impact on Students with Emotional Disturbances’ Attention to Task

ABSTRACT

An AB single-case experimental design was used to assess the effectiveness of the mental health strategies of mindfulness, specifically guided imagery and yoga, on attention to task in five boys identified with emotional disturbance (ED). Repeated measures were taken during both the baseline and intervention phases. A data collection log was used to track attention to task for 15-minute periods after intervention as students went about their typical routine. The guided imagery intervention participant results were mixed, while the yoga intervention results indicated a mean increase in time on task for all participants. These results support school-based occupational therapists embedding appropriate mental health strategies into the classroom routine of students with ED to expose them to coping skills that will support their attention to task to increase their overall occupational participation.

KEYWORDS:

• occupational therapy
• school-based
• yoga
• mindfulness
• positive mental health

Acknowledgments

Authors acknowledge Kareen Robbins for her help with project development and designing the data collection log, and Noah Davis-Cheshire for his assistance with creating figures for this study.

Supplementary Material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.