Mindfulness-based programming for stress reduction to support child and adolescent health

Part of the BCTR’s Talks at Twelve Series.

Stress exposure is a transdiagnostic risk factor for a range of health problems, behaviors, and disparities. Stress exposure is difficult to mitigate given its heterogeneity (e.g., adverse life events) and scale (e.g., SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, societal racial biases). Given these challenges, clinical scientists have focused on developing programs targeting malleable individual characteristics relating to how one copes with stressors. Foremost among novel approaches for stress reduction are mindfulness-based programs (MBPs). MBPs are causally related to wide-ranging health benefits, and evidence suggests that salutary effects are attributable to alterations to stress appraisal and reactivity. This presentation will describe the relations between stress, MBPs, and health in youth. The talk will conclude by presenting findings from recent studies highlighting future directions for developing targeted MBP for at-risk adolescent populations, and contextual factors to consider in implementation research evaluating MBPs in school settings.