Mindfulness in Preadolescents—A Feasibility Study on the Efficacy and Acceptance of a School-Based Training (“8SAM”)

Abstract Objectives Interest in mindfulness-based programs for students in school settings is growing. Few such programs exist for secondary schools in Germany and none is specifically tailored for integration into the full-year 5th grade school curriculum. Moreover, qualitative surveys of student acceptance are lacking. Therefore, this study assessed the efficacy and acceptance of a school-based mindfulness training (“8SAM”) tailored for preadolescents in the 5th grade. Methods In this feasibility study, the mindfulness training was implemented by trained classroom teachers in a German gymnasium (a type of secondary school) as part of the regular school curriculum for an entire school year. In total, 95 preadolescents aged 10–12 years participated. Following a mixed-methods approach, both quantitative and qualitative instruments were employed. Self-report measures based on the German version of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM) were longitudinally assessed at baseline ( t 0 ), mid-intervention ( t 1 ), and post-intervention ( t 2 ). Acceptance of the training was surveyed using quantitative and qualitative self-reports. Results A one-way repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant main effect of time ( F (1.66, 151.41) = 14.23, p &lt; 0.001, $${\eta }_{p}^{2}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mi>η</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>p</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn> </mml:msubsup> </mml:math> = 0.14), with mindfulness increasing at t 1 and t 2 . Acceptance was more ambiguous: 52.43% of preadolescents liked the “quiet” and “calm” atmosphere or interactive exercises whereas 17% rated the training as “boring.” Conclusions The findings suggest that 8SAM (a) can be implemented by classroom teachers as part of the regular full-year 5th grade curriculum and (b) may increase mindfulness in preadolescents. Furthermore, (c) to increase preadolescents’ subjective benefits and acceptance, more age-appropriate didactic approaches need to be identified and implemented. Preregistration This study is registered at the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00015044).