This study evaluated the effectiveness of a new “mindfulness” education program for late elementary school students, the Master Mind program, which was designed to fill the gap in programs that provide mindfulness education.
“Mindfulness” practice provides children with multiple opportunities to become aware of their thoughts and feelings, which may enable youth to be thoughtful and measured in responding to various situations rather than reacting impulsively or being harmful to themselves, such as drinking or smoking. The current study was an initial investigation of the Master Mind program, which was intended to inform a future longitudinal trial on the effectiveness of the Master Mind program in preventing substance use. For this study, two elementary schools were randomly assigned to be an intervention group (n – 71) or waitlist control group (n – 40. Students in the intervention group were taught the 4-week Master Mind program by their regular classroom teachers. At pre- and post-intervention time points, students completed self-reports of their intentions to use substances and an executive functioning performance task. Teachers rated students on their behavior in the classroom. Findings indicated that compared with waitlist students, students who participated in the Master Mind program showed significant improvements in executive functioning skills (girls and boys) and a marginally significant increase in self-control abilities (boys only). In addition, significant reductions occurred in aggression and social problems (girls and boys), as well as anxiety (girls only). No significant differences across groups were found for intentions to use alcohol or tobacco. The findings suggest that mindfulness education may be beneficial in increasing self-regulatory abilities, which is important for substance abuse prevention. 3 tables and 84 references