To what extent is mindfulness training effective in enhancing self-esteem, self-regulation and psychological well-being of school going early adolescents?

Background: Recent research has shifted the focus from treatments to the preventive measures in young age. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of mindfulness training on self-esteem, self-regulation, mindfulness and psychological wellbeing of school-going adolescents. Methods: This is a matched controlled, pretest-posttest experimental study using school going 100 "early adolescents" (50 in experimental, and 50 in control group), in the age range 10-14 years. Adolescent Self-Regulatory Inventory, Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, Ryff's Psychological Well-being scale, and Child Adolescent Mindfulness Measure were used for assessments. The experimental group received weekly mindfulness training for ten sessions. Within and between group comparisons were done before and after the intervention using independent samples t test and paired t test. Results: Mindfulness training was effective in bringing statistically significant improvement in all domains of self-regulation, psychological well-being, self-esteem and mindfulness. Moreover, the experimental group showed significant improvement in all domains compared to the control group from baseline scores to the post intervention assessment (p<0.01). Conclusion: Mindfulness training is effective in fostering mindfulness and overall psychological development in early adolescence, including self-esteem, self-regulation, and psychological wellbeing. Mindfulness training should be considered at school levels because of its preventive and cost-effective nature, helping students become empathizing and socially mature adults.