Mindfulness and ADHD
Do you work with students who have ADHD? Recent research took a close look at mindfulness and ADHD to see if this intervention would help with the deficits in executive functioning, including working memory, inhibition, planning, family environment, or cognitive flexibility.
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Need Mindfulness Resources for Your Classroom?
If you need help with mindfulness in your classroom, Created by certified yoga instructor and former primary school teacher, Giselle Shardlow, Mindful Kids in 10 Minutes a Day: PreK-2nd Grade can help you easily bring mindfulness to children in preschool through 2nd grade!
Need help with older students?
Mindfulness Activities for the Classroom Grade 3-5
Mindfulness Middle School Workbook
Benefits of Mindfulness Programs
When we have our children participate in mindfulness programs there are many benefits for ALL students. Here are several goals and strategies that children can work on when practicing mindfulness (developed by Snel, 2014):
- Be attentive
- Use breathing as a tool to explore attention. See below for examples:
- Body exploration through mindful movement exercises. See below for examples:
- Being aware of body sensations
- Using multiple senses to understand the environment around us and internal senses
- Learn to be aware and to identify feelings. See below for examples:
- Acknowledging feelings of others and yourself
- Using mindful attention throughout daily life
- Practice kindness
What Does the Research Say on Mindfulness and ADHD?
Mindfulness and ADHD In Younger Children
One research study indicated that involving the family in the mindfulness program was helpful. Following a 6 week family-based mindfulness intervention with 100 children ages 5-7 (50 with ADHD and 50 without ADHD), data analysis revealed the following:
- families from intervention group had greater improvements in children’s ADHD symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity and overall behaviors.
- improvements were also seen in the mindfulness group in parenting stress and well-being.
The researchers concluded that family-based mindfulness intervention should be considered as a treatment option to ADHD and may also help with parent self-management and reduced stress (Lo, et. al., 2020).
Mindfulness and ADHD in Adolescents
Another recent study evaluated an 8 week mindfulness program that included 15 older children with ADHD (9-14 years old) and 15 children without ADHD and their families. This study showed similar successful results:
- after the mindfulness program, parents reported a decrease in parenting stress and improvements in parenting styles.
- Six months after the intervention, parents reported (Conners—3rd Edition Scale) significant improvements in children’s inattention symptoms, executive functions, learning problems, aggression, and peer relations.
- Over-reactivity was the only variable that showed a decrease in both the post-test and follow-up periods.
The researchers also concluded that family based mindfulness intervention should be considered as a treatment option for older children with ADHD and their families (Valero et al, 2021).
References
Lo, H. H., Wong, S. W., Wong, J. Y., Yeung, J. W., Snel, E., & Wong, S. Y. (2020). The effects of family-based mindfulness intervention on ADHD symptomology in young children and their parents: a randomized control trial. Journal of attention disorders, 24(5), 667-680.
Snel, E. (2014). Mindfulness matters: Mindfulness for children, ages: 5-8. Trainer’s handbook 1. Amsterdam, The
Netherlands: Author
Valero, M., Cebolla, A., & Colomer, C. (2021). Mindfulness training for children with ADHD and their parents: a randomized control trial. Journal of attention disorders, 10870547211027636.
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