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The purpose of this study was to explore linkages between mindfulness-based practices (MBP) applied in schools and a social and emotional (SEL) framework using the five competency areas endorsed by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making). A qualitative exploration of linkages was conducted to identify ways the two might be integrated in schools and to stimulate transdisciplinary dialogue. A literature review yielded 40 studies that met the criteria: (a) use of MBP, (b) study conducted in a school setting, (c) inclusion of a goal to promote mindfulness, and (d) at least one outcome variable relevant to at least one of the five SEL competency areas. After coding SEL-related constructs measured in the studies, we reached consensus for the SEL competency area under which each construct best fits and reviewed the extent to which constructs were measured across the five SEL competency areas. Results suggested a conceptual fit between MBP and a SEL framework. Each of the five competency areas varied in their representation of the effects of MBP on students. The competency area of self-management was represented in all studies reviewed. No studies mentioned the use of the five competency areas in a SEL framework to guide or classify outcome variables. Only eight studies measured mindfulness as a construct. Future evaluations of MBP in schools should consider how outcomes fit within the context of a SEL framework to further understand the linkages between MBP and SEL.

Mindfulness-based practices (MBP) are being applied in school settings with growing interest and increasing frequency. Social and emotional learning (SEL) is a paradigm in which schools are planning and implementing prevention and intervention programming to mitigate risk factors and positively affect the well-being of all students. MBP can be used with SEL programming as a novel adjunctive approach to fostering resilience. This article reviews SEL and highlights the theoretical basis for and the practical integration of MBP into existing SEL curricula, Strong Kids and Strong Teens. Recommendations for the continued use of MBP in school settings and within a SEL framework are discussed.

The prevention of and early intervention with internalizing problems are vital to children's overall health and development. Schools are strongly considered a venue where these services can be provided. The Strong Kids program was developed to increase youths' resiliency. This study examined the efficacy of Strong Kids with middle school students in terms of knowledge of healthy social-emotional behaviors, reduction in internalizing symptoms, and the exploratory use of performance feedback with features of motivational interviewing. Students who participated in the program significantly increased their knowledge. Negative symptoms did not change. Teachers implemented the program with strong fidelity. It is unclear at this time the extent to which it is necessary to use performance feedback with features of motivational interviewing to improve the implementation of highly structured social-emotional learning programs.

A survey study was conducted to examine teachers’ knowledge, perceptions, and practices regarding social and emotional learning (SEL) in the classroom. Teachers from two states (N = 263) provided a range of responses regarding how to promote SEL in their classrooms, increase the effectiveness of SEL, and reduce barriers to implementation. Results indicated that many teachers believe that SEL is important, schools should take an active role, receiving training/support from a variety of professionals would be helpful, and current academic demands decrease the opportunity for SEL. In addition to broadening the very limited research in this area, this study provides important new information regarding teachers’ knowledge and practices of SEL in classrooms. This information is useful to school psychologists, other specialists, and administrators in helping set the stage for establishing social–emotional learning practices in schools.

Research on effectiveness of school bullying interventions has lagged behind descriptive studies on this topic. The literature on bullying intervention research has only recently expanded to a point that allows for synthesis of findings across studies. The authors conducted a meta-analytic study of school bullying intervention research across the 25-year period from 1980 through 2004, identifying 16 studies that met our inclusion criteria. These studies included 15,386 K through 12 student participants from European nations and the United States. Applying standard meta-analysis techniques to obtain averaged effect size estimates across similar outcomes, the authors found that the intervention studies produced meaningful and clinically important positive effects for about one-third of the variables. The majority of outcomes evidenced no meaningful change, positive or negative. The authors conclude that school bullying interventions may produce modest positive outcomes, that they are more likely to influence knowledge, attitudes, and self-perceptions rather than actual bullying behaviors; and that the majority of outcome variables in intervention studies are not meaningfully impacted.

The dramatic surge in diversity in the western world requires a commitment by pediatric providers to understand unique psychosocial presentations of distress, as well as to have an understanding of normative cultural values and health-seeking behaviors. We report a case of apparent recurrent abdominal pain that evolved into a unique culturally salient presentation of obsessive compulsive disorder in a 6-year-old young girl. Access to integrated mental health professionals assisted in the identification of this disorder, if not success in referral and treatment.