Mindfulness Interventions on Preschoolers' Executive Function Performance: A Systematic Review and Call for Future Research

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Seventeen
  In Roundtable Session: Variables Impacting Social Emotional Development in Early Childhood Years (Table 8)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate existing evidence for the efficacy of mindfulness and yoga interventions on preschoolers’ executive functioning. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials that implemented a mindful or yoga-based intervention within preschool (3 to 5 years, n=1063) was conducted. Data were extracted to calculate significant effects of mindfulness interventions on preschoolers’ EF. Seven of the fifteen studies that met inclusion criteria demonstrated a significant intervention effect for at least one measure of EF. The results of this systematic review indicate mindfulness as a promising intervention for the improvement of EF in preschool, however, given the mixed results, additional research is needed to understand the role of mindfulness in young children’s emerging EF.

Authors

• Reagan Pearce, University of Mississippi
  Presenting Author

• Biju Rajbhandari, University of Mississippi
  Non-Presenting Author

• Alicia Cooper Stapp, University of Mississippi
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kenya E. Wolff, University of Mississippi
  Non-Presenting Author

• Stephanie E. Miller, University of Mississippi
  Non-Presenting Author