NCT05787483

Biopsychosocial Outcomes of Mindfulness-based Instruction

Evaluating Biopsychosocial Outcomes of Mindfulness-based Instruction in Adolescence

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 68 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Alabama at Birmingham · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 10 Years – 14 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Over 20% of adolescents living in the United States have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder. However, most adolescents who need mental health services do not receive them due to many reasons, including low resources in families and communities, stigma, lack of mental health providers, and other barriers to mental health care access. Alabama currently ranks 50th in access to mental healthcare and 51st (LAST) in mental healthcare provider availability with only one mental healthcare provider for every 920 persons in need. Most adolescents attend school, so delivering mental health services in the school setting eliminates many barriers to mental health care access. From the point of prevention, participation in universal social and emotional learning (SEL) programs within the school setting improves social and emotional skills, behaviors, attitudes, and academic performance. Mindfulness-based instruction is a promising approach to SEL for improving psychological functioning that is evidence-based, widely available, and scalable to various populations and settings. This project aims to investigate whether a SEL program that incorporates mindfulness-based instruction (MindUP) leads to improvements in not only self-reported well-being (i.e., anxiety, mindful attention, perceived stress, and positive and negative affect), but also objectively measured executive functioning, academic achievement, and regulation of stress physiology. The investigators will partner with schools that serve historically underserved students to test the effectiveness of the MindUP program in 5th and 6th graders. This study has the potential to benefit underserved students and their teachers who will receive training on sustainable implementation of the MindUP curriculum.

Conditions

• Specific Learning Disability
• Mental Health Issue

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	MindUP group	MindUP is a Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning SELect (CASEL) program, meaning the program is evidence-based and meets the adequate criteria for developing students' social and emotional competence at the highest level. MindUP addresses all five components of the CASEL SEL Framework: self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, and relationship skills (CASEL, 2020). Students are taught how the workings of the brain are related to emotions, behaviors, decision making, and learning. MindUP is the first program to provide clear instruction in both SEL and mindfulness.
BEHAVIORAL	active control group	business as usual; regular wellness or SEL classes

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-08-14
• Primary completion: 2024-10-16
• Completion: 2024-10-16
• First posted: 2023-03-28
• Last updated: 2025-10-16

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States