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 Mindfulness is based on the idea of being more aware of the present
by intentionally focusing on emotions, thoughts and sensations and
viewing them with acceptance. Advocates say this understanding helps
people to respond in ways that are more purposeful, rather than
reacting on "automatic pilot".
The three-part study will include the first large randomized control
trial of mindfulness training compared with teaching as usual in 76
schools.
Further parts of the study include experimental research to
establish whether and how mindfulness improves mental resilience of
teenagers, and an assessment of the most effective way to train
teachers to deliver mindfulness classes to pupils.
Brain scientists know that teenage years are a crucially vulnerable
time for mental health, particular in brain regions responsible for
decision-making, emotion regulation and social understanding. More
than three-quarters of all mental disorders begin before the age of
24, and half by the age of 15.
Researchers leading the study, from Britain's Oxford University,
Exeter University, University College London, and the MRC Cognition
and Brain Sciences Unit, said it is based on the theory that, just
as physical training is linked with better physical health, so
psychological resilience training is linked to better mental health.
"Mindfulness as a technique has become very popular," said Raliza
Stoyanova of the Neuroscience and Mental Health team at the Wellcome
Trust charity, which is part-funding the study. "We want to take
that enthusiasm ... but delve deeper into the scientific basis for
the technique."
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By promoting good mental health and intervening early, the
scientists hope to understand whether they can help prevent mental
illness developing.
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, one of the study's lead researchers and
professor at UCL, said part of the trial would be using experimental
tasks in the lab to study whether mindfulness affects how young
people think and feel and make decisions under stressful or
emotional conditions.
"We are trying to establish whether mindfulness training, compared
with a control intervention, has different effects at different
stages of development, and therefore if there is a 'best' time for
teenagers to be trained in the technique," she said.
(Reporting by Kate Kelland, editing by Ros Russell)
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