Editorial: Mindfulness in Schools: Promises, Challenges, and Future Directions

Abstract

Amid rising national rates of childhood depression and anxiety,^1,2 the development and accessibility of therapeutic psychosocial interventions for children have taken on paramount importance. Given the limited bandwidth of the existing clinical mental health services nationally, there is also an imperative to integrate therapeutic interventions within nonclinical, community-based settings (eg, schools) that can address emergent symptoms before crises manifest. Mindfulness-based interventions are a promising therapeutic modality for such preventive community-based strategies. While the literature on the therapeutic potential of mindfulness in adults is well established,³ the evidence for mindfulness in children is more precarious, with one meta-analysis demonstrating unconvincing results.⁴ Especially in school-based mindfulness training (SBMT) for children, there is a dearth of literature showing intervention effectiveness,⁵ and researchers have cited many implementation challenges,⁶ which spotlights SBMT as a burgeoning, promising, and multifaceted intervention deserving of more inquiry.