Contemp School Psychol (2017) 21:304–316
DOI 10.1007/s40688-017-0141-2
A Qualitative Exploration of Primary School Students’
Experience and Utilisation of Mindfulness
Bavani Bannirchelvam 1 & Karen L. Bell 1 & Shane Costello 1
Published online: 10 July 2017
# California Association of School Psychologists 2017
Abstract D e s p i t e t h e i n c r e a s i n g u t i l i s a t i o n o f
mindfulness-based interventions in children, research in-
vestigating the impact of these interventions in children is
still in its infancy. One significant gap in the literature is
the general omission of the child’s voice in how they
experience and benefit from mindfulness-based interven-
tion. Therefore, the present study explored children’s ex-
periences of a mindfulness-based intervention, as well as
why and how they utilised mindfulness techniques. A
semi-structured interview was undertaken with eight up-
per primary school-aged students after completion of a
classroom-based eight-session mindfulness intervention.
Thematic analysis elicited 11 key themes across the three
research questions. Students generally liked the
mindfulness-based intervention but preferred experiential
over passive program components. Students utilised
mindfulness techniques for emotion regulation, typically
by focusing on their breathing, shifting their attention to
the present, and using a smartphone application. These
findings provide insights into factors contributing to pro-
gram engagement and children’s use of mindfulness as a
strategy for emotion regulation.
Keywords Mindfulness . Children . Classroom . Child’s
voice . Emotion regulation
* Shane Costello
shane.costello@monash.edu
1
Krongold Clinic, Faculty of Education, Monash University, 57
Scenic Boulevard, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
Introduction
Today’s child faces the daunting task of developing social and
emotional wellbeing amidst rising levels of stressors and de-
clining levels of protective factors in their social world
(Antonovsky 1993; Olesen et al. 2010). In Australia, 6.9%
of children between the ages of 4 and 11 years are diagnosed
with an anxiety disorder, and 1.1% are diagnosed with major
depression (Lawrence et al. 2015). The prevalence of mental
health problems escalates when looking at adolescent popula-
tions. Here, 7% of Australian adolescents between the ages 12
and 17 years are diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, 5 % with
major depression, and 10% reported having ever self-harmed
(Lawrence et al. 2015). Significantly, it is estimated that half
of all lifetime psychological disorders start by the age of
14 years (Kessler et al. 2005).
Exposure to parental separation (Olesen et al. 2010), vio-
lence (Briggs-Gowan et al. 2010), financial difficulty
(Edwards 2012), and parental mental illness (Olesen et al.
2010) all reflect that children are facing significant life
stressors. However, the presence of a risk factor does not in-
evitably result in the development of psychopathology
(Haggerty 1994). Rather, it is the interaction between the in-
trapersonal and environmental risks and protective factors
which predicts whether the individual goes on to develop psy-
chological wellbeing or psychopathology (Haggerty 1994).
Social and Emotional Competence
One set of protective factors which has been found to
contribute to the development of psychological wellbeing
and reduce the likelihood of psychopathology is social
Contemp School Psychol (2017) 21:304–316
and emotional competence (Hamilton and Redmond 2010;
Seligman 2011). Social competency is the ability to pro-
cess and respond to social demands and cultivate healthy
relationships (Rose-Krasnor and Denham 2009), while
emotional competency is the ability to perceive and re-
spond effectively to the emotions within self and others
(Gullone et al. 2010). In healthy, optimal conditions, the
growing child develops these competencies through a
transactional interplay between intra-individual variables
such as the biologically driven unfoldment of genes, syn-
aptic shaping and temperament, with environmental fac-
tors such as parental responsiveness, social learning, and
secure attachments (Lewis et al. 2010; Sameroff 2009;
Thompson 1991). The fact that social and emotional com-
petencies do not always develop through primarily biolog-
ical processes is seen in the prevalence of mental health
problems in adolescent and adult populations, where most
psychological conditions such as anxiety and depression
are underscored by the individual’s inability to understand
and regulate their own emotions, or to create and sustain
healthy relationships with others (Bradley 2000; Cicchetti
et al. 1995; Gross and Thompson 2007).
In light of research findings showing the high preva-
lence of mental health problems in children (Lawrence
et al. 2015) and emphasising the importance of social
and emotional competencies for long-term psychological
wellbeing (Cicchetti et al. 1995; Thompson 1991), the
last decade has witnessed the beginnings of a shift in
education to encompass social and emotional develop-
ment, alongside academic achievement. In addition,
more than 50 % of Australian children with a diagnosed
mental disorder do not access mental health services,
and a significant proportion of children in non-clinical
populations report that their needs for counselling or life
skills support are partially or completely unmet
(Lawrence et al. 2015). The greatest barrier impeding
children from accessing mental health services is finan-
cial constraints (Lawrence et al. 2015). Further, the fam-
ilies with the greatest amount of need for targeted men-
tal health interventions are often the most difficult to
retain in services (Fox et al. 2015).
With the majority of children enrolled in schools, and with
children spending a significant amount of time at school,
schools have more scope than any other institution to deliver
accessible social and emotional wellbeing programs to the
majority of children (Durlak et al. 2011; Fox et al. 2015;
Moore et al. 2014). In Australia, the growing number of
schools adopting the Kids Matter framework for school-
based social and emotional wellbeing is just one illustration
of this movement (KidsMatter 2015). Educators are also in-
creasingly choosing mindfulness-based interventions as a
means to foster social and emotional competence in primary
school children (Greenberg and Harris 2012).
305
Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Children
Mindfulness, as defined by Kabat-Zinn (1994), is the act of
deliberately paying attention to the present experience with an
attitude of curiosity, acceptance, and openness. The efficacy of
mindfulness-based interventions for enhancing wellbeing and
treating a range of clinical conditions including anxiety and
depression has been well established in adult populations
(Eberth and Sedlmeier 2012; Galante et al. 2014; Klainin-
Yobas et al. 2012; Piet et al. 2012). In contrast, there is less
research which has investigated mindfulness-based interven-
tions in children. However, recent reviews yield promising
findings (Greenberg and Harris 2012; Jensen 2014; Zenner
et al. 2014). Generally, these interventions are well accepted
by school staff and students (Mendelson et al. 2010; Schonert-
Reichl et al. 2015). They are found to be feasible to imple-
ment, and studies report beneficial impacts of both teacher and
external facilitator delivery of the interventions (e.g., Felver
et al. 2014; Flook et al. 2010; Mendelson et al. 2010;
Schonert-Reichl et al. 2015). Studies to date have been mainly
conducted with upper primary school children.
In children, studies report the strongest support for the im-
pact of mindfulness on attention (Felver et al. 2014; Klatt et al.
2013; Napoli et al. 2005; Schonert-Reichl et al. 2015; Semple
et al. 2010), emotional regulation (Coholic 2012; DeUrquiza
2014; Flook et al. 2015; Schonert-Reichl et al. 2015; White
2012), optimism (Schonert-Reichl and Lawlor 2010;
Schonert-Reichl et al. 2015), and prosocial behaviour (Flook
et al. 2015; Schonert-Reichl and Lawlor 2010; Schonert-
Reichl et al. 2015). Research investigating the impact of
mindfulness-based interventions on specific emotional and
behavioural outcomes yields less consistent findings, with
studies reporting mixed results of the efficacy of mindfulness
to ameliorate symptoms of anxiety (Lee et al. 2008; Linden
1973; Napoli et al. 2005; White 2012), depression (Britton
et al. 2014; Lee et al. 2008; Schonert-Reichl et al. 2015),
and externalising behaviour problems (Britton et al. 2014;
Lee et al. 2008; Semple et al. 2005).
Looking specifically at emotional regulation due to its im-
portance for social and emotional wellbeing, there is signifi-
cant support for the efficacy of mindfulness interventions in
improving emotional control and coping in children (Coholic
2012; DeUrquiza 2014; Flook et al. 2015; Schonert-Reichl
et al. 2015; White 2012). Three randomised controlled trials
investigating the impact of mindfulness on coping and emo-
tional control consistently found that children who underwent
a mindfulness-based intervention showed greater levels of
emotional control and coping, as well as lower emotional re-
activity, as measured through self or teacher report (Flook
et al. 2015; Schonert-Reichl et al. 2015; White 2012).
Consistent findings of decreased emotional reactivity were
reported in a cohort of children demonstrating behavioural
problems (Coholic 2012). Providing some insight into how
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mindfulness may be facilitating emotional control and coping,
in a clinical case study, children reported becoming more
aware of physiological sensations associated with anxiety,
connecting these sensations with the recognition of anxiety,
and using breathing exercises to calm down (DeUrquiza
2014). Thus, it appears that mindfulness interventions en-
hance emotional control and coping in children, and this rela-
tionship may be mediated by enhanced emotional awareness
and conscious use of regulatory strategies.
Together, these findings demonstrate that mindfulness-
based interventions may enhance the social and emotional
competency of primary school children, particularly in the
domains of emotional regulation, attention, prosociality, and
optimism (Felver et al. 2014; Flook et al. 2015; Klatt et al.
2013; Schonert-Reichl and Lawlor 2010; Schonert-Reichl
et al. 2015). However, almost all studies attempting to com-
prehend the impact of mindfulness-based interventions on
children’s social and emotional wellbeing have been conduct-
ed on children, rather than with them, despite research dem-
onstrating children’s capacity to share their views and be ex-
perts of their own lives (Christensen and James 2000). Rather,
to date, the child’s voice has been largely underrepresented in
the scientific journey towards an understanding of how
mindfulness-based interventions impact the young person.
Costello and Lawler (2014) conducted a thematic analysis
exploring children’s experience of a mindfulness-based inter-
vention and perceived stress. By listening to the child’s voice,
this study contributed significant insights into changes in chil-
dren’s awareness; concentration; ability to deal with stress;
and cognitive, emotional, and behavioural regulation capaci-
ties following a mindfulness-based intervention. Whilst pro-
viding one of the first insights into children’s experience of
mindfulness, many questions pertaining to how children ex-
perience, consciously use, or practice mindfulness remain
unanswered.
The Current Study
Because of the interest in preventing the development of psy-
chopathology as well as the research generally centred upon
upper primary school students, this study focuses on grade 3
to 6 students identified to be at risk of developing further
mental health concerns. The current study sought to explore
a group of primary school student’s experiences of a
mindfulness-based intervention.
The following research questions were examined:
1. What are student’s experiences of the mindfulness-based
intervention?
2. What were the student’s motivations to use mindfulness
techniques?
3. How do students practice mindfulness?
Contemp School Psychol (2017) 21:304–316
Methods
Participants
The participants in the current study were recruited from a
single public primary school in suburban Melbourne,
Australia. All third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade teachers at
the school nominated students who they perceived to have
elevated levels of anxiety, low coping strategies, or students
who would potentially find the transition from primary to
secondary school difficult. Parents of these students were pro-
vided with explanatory statements outlining the program. A
total of 20 English-speaking students elected to participate in
the program. Of these, eight were randomly selected (stratified
by gender) to participate in follow-up interviews. This group
consisted of four girls and four boys from grades 3 to 6. The
students ranged in age from 7 to 11 years (M = 9.5 years,
SD = 1.5 years). None of the students had been previously
diagnosed with a psychological disorder. Comments by the
classroom teachers with relevant information about why each
participant was identified as being at risk, as well as demo-
graphic characteristics of study participants, are provided in
Table 1. All students were given pseudonyms to protect
confidentiality.
Materials
Intervention
The Triple R Program is a mindfulness-based program that
consists of six, once a week session each 1 h in duration,
followed by two booster sessions. A pilot study into the
Triple R Program found moderate increases in mindfulness
skills after 6 weeks, with increased mindfulness skills signif-
icantly associated with decreased negative emotional symp-
toms (Dove and Costello 2017). With the exception of the first
session which started with introduction and relationship build-
ing activities, the sessions started and finished with a brief
guided mindfulness meditation. These meditations involved
visualisations, scanning the different parts of the body, paying
attention to sensory stimuli, focussing on the breath, observ-
ing thoughts, and noticing feelings. Each session also included
activities, discussions, and story books related to weekly
topics. These topics included awareness of feelings, mindful-
ness, noticing feelings in the body, noticing thoughts, and
healthy friendships. The first six sessions were completed
within the second school term.
At the beginning of both the third and fourth school terms,
booster sessions were delivered. The first booster session fo-
cused on managing worries by sharing with caring adults who
were identified by the students during the session. The second
booster session focused on managing worries with coping
strategies. An outline of the Triple R Program is presented in
Contemp School Psychol (2017) 21:304–316 307

Table 1 Demographic
information for study participants Pseudonym Gender Age/grade Teacher comments

Hamish Male 7 years, grade 3 Low social skills and low confidence
Julie Female 11 years, grade 6 Strategies for managing transition to high school
Liam Male 10 years, grade 5 Low coping skills, high level of anxiety
Belle Female 11 years, grade 5 Family separation and trauma; low confidence.
Charlie Male 8 years, grade 3 Family separation, high level of anxiety, and low self esteem
Georgia Female 8 years, grade 3 Family separation, high level of anxiety and low self confidence
Tamara Female 10 years, grade 5 Low coping skills, family issues
Jack Male 11 years, grade 5 Low social skills and low coping skills

Appendix A, and further information is available by
contacting the corresponding author.
Intervention and Data Collection Procedures
Upon return of parental consent forms, the participants
underwent the Triple R mindfulness-based intervention.
This was conducted at their school during school time
by two external facilitators and provisionally registered
psychologists from Monash University. The initial phase
of the intervention lasted 6 weeks, with one booster
session delivered at the beginning of each subsequent
school term for two terms (totalling eight intervention
sessions).
Within 1 week following the delivery of the final
booster session, the first author, who was not involved
with the facilitation of the mindfulness-based interven-
tion, conducted individual interviews with the partici-
pants at their school. The semi-structured interviews
were guided by six questions (Appendix B) focussed
on exploring the participant’s experiences of the mind-
fulness program and their practice of mindfulness
(Mertens 2005). Questions also asked about when and
under what conditions they used mindfulness techniques
in order to explore their implicit motivation to utilise
mindfulness.
Before asking the interview questions, the interviewer
briefly recapped the different mindfulness meditations and
sessions covered during the Triple R Program. Due to ethical
limitations of conducting research with students in a school
setting, the interviews were not audio recorded. Instead, the
interviewer made a verbatim written record of the student’s
responses to the interview questions during the course of the
interview. Pauses were taken after each response for the inter-
viewer to complete writing down the response. Interviews
were completed over 2 days and all interviews were complet-
ed before analysis began. Interviews lasted no more than
20 min.
To minimise responses based on social desirability, partic-
ipants were assured at the commencement of the interview
that all information and opinions shared within the interview
was confidential and any responses included in reports and
publications would be completely de-identified. Participants
were also encouraged to share their true perceptions of the
program, regardless of whether these were positive or
negative.
Data Analysis
Transcripts were analysed in an iterative process by the
first author using thematic analysis (Braun and Clark
2006) to inductively identify themes within the data
related to participants’ experiences, motivations for
using, and practice, of mindfulness. This involved read-
ing the transcripts several times for familiarisation with
the raw data, before identifying parts of the data salient
to the research questions and generating codes for these.
Next, different codes relating to the same issue were
categorised together to make a theme. These themes
were then reviewed for redundancy, in which case they
were combined with other themes. Themes which were
too broad were split into separate themes. Finally,
themes were defined and named.
Results were discussed with the facilitators and provisional
psychologists involved in implementing the program at other
primary schools and found to be consistent with their experi-
ences of the program. Another provisional psychologist, who
was not involved in the study, reviewed the data and resulting
themes to ensure accurate representation and coding of the
data and that no other feasible interpretations could be put
forward to account for the data.
Results
The thematic analysis process applied to the partici-
pants’ responses to interview questions revealed a num-
ber of themes and subthemes which related to the three
research questions. These themes are summarised in
Table 2 below.
308 Contemp School Psychol (2017) 21:304–316

Table 2 Summary of themes

elicited from the thematic analysis Research question Theme Subthemes

What was the student’s experience of
the Triple R Program?
What were the student’s motivations to
use mindfulness techniques?
How do students practice
mindfulness?
Active versus passive participation Guided meditation
Sharing feelings with peers
Previous experience with
mindfulness and program
disengagement
Emotional control
Awareness of negative emotional Anxiety and fear
state
Anger
Sadness
Awareness of repetitive cognitive Worry
processes
Rumination
Perceived utility of mindfulness for Liking mindfulness because
emotional control and coping of its perceived utility
Awareness of impact of mindfulness Calm and relaxed
on emotional states
Less worried
Recovering from panic
Breathing
Shifting attention to the present
Smiling Mind application
Misconceptions of mindfulness Mindfulness is relaxation
Mindfulness is distraction

Students’ Experiences of Mindfulness
Overall, the students reported that they Bliked^ the
Triple R program and found it to be Bhelpful^.
However, some students also reported that they found
parts of the program Bboring^, whilst a small subgroup
of students expressed a general dislike of the whole
program. More detailed thematic analysis of the stu-
dents’ responses elicited specific themes which help to
explain why students liked or disliked the Triple R
Program.
One theme which was drawn from the responses was a
preference for active participation in activities or mindfulness
meditation, rather than listening to the facilitator’s explanation
of mindfulness. For example, Julie reflected, BIt was good but
sometimes boring when the lady talked about mindfulness…I
liked doing things more than listening^. Indeed, no students
expressed that they enjoyed the facilitator’s explanations of
mindfulness.
Most students reported that enjoying the guided mindful-
ness meditations. For example, Georgia shared, BI liked the
zooming in and zooming out on the mindfulness CD, because
you see a lot of things that you like…and it makes you
relaxed^. Further, exempting Tamara who expressed that Bthe
guided meditations became boring…[after]…the first time^,
the repeated practice of guided mindfulness meditation each
week was not reported to lower the students’ enjoyment and
engagement in the program.
Students also shared that they enjoyed activities in which
they shared their feelings as well as fears with others. Whilst
the Triple R program incorporated opportunities for students
to discuss and explore other concepts such as friendship and
thoughts together, it is notable that students only expressed a
particular enjoyment of sharing their feelings and fears.
A subsection of students in this study expressed dislike and
boredom, as well as a perceived uselessness of the Triple R
Program because they had prior exposure to mindfulness.
These were the same students who expressed that they Bnearly
always didn’t want to go^ (Tamara and Jack). However, other
students who reported previous experience with mindfulness
conveyed that they enjoyed the Triple R Program and used
strategies learnt previously alongside those learnt in the Triple
R Program.
Motivations for Using Mindfulness Techniques
Through the interviews, it emerged that many of the students
had experience with mindfulness prior to the Triple R
Program, therefore the findings presented for questions two
and three reflect student’s experiences with mindfulness in
Contemp School Psychol (2017) 21:304–316
general, rather than skills developed from the Triple R
Program specifically.
Without exception, all of the students reported using mind-
fulness techniques as a means to control their emotions, to
shift from an undesired affective state, or to cope with situa-
tions which provoked anger or anxiety. For example, Julie
recalled, BI used mindfulness in a test. I sat down and I took
a deep breath and I calmed myself down^. Certainly, within all
of the student’s responses describing their use of mindfulness
was the theme of actively seeking emotional control, or calm-
ness, instead of allowing an undesired emotion to escalate or
continue. Further, two girls indicated that they pre-empted an
emotional reaction and used mindfulness to maintain control
of their emotional state. For example, Tamara shared that she
takes Bdeep breaths when I have a silly fight with friends—
instead of getting frustrated and angry^.
Further analysis of responses provided an insight into the
specific emotional and cognitive states and situations which
prompted students to use mindfulness techniques, as well as
how this motivation may have developed. A strong theme
drawn here from the student’s recollection of occasions when
they used mindfulness techniques was the awareness of a neg-
ative emotional state. For example, all of the students who
reported that they used mindfulness techniques before a test
also expressed being Bworried^ or Bnervous^ beforehand.
Conversely, many students who did not use mindfulness tech-
niques before tests or performances reported that they Bdon’t
get nervous^, including Hamish who noted, BI don’t really use
it for tests because I’m an expert at taking tests^.
Whilst most of the students did not indicate how they be-
came aware of their emotional state, two students made refer-
ences to physiological sensations. Charles recalled, BI did
deep breathing when my heart was pounding^. Another boy,
Jack, shared, BI liked noticing feelings in the body—because
you go straight away and see if something’s wrong^, indicat-
ing the utility of mindfulness techniques for emotional
awareness.
Three subthemes related to the negative emotions that
prompted students to use mindfulness techniques. One of
these was when students experienced an element of anxiety
and fear. All except for one boy reported practicing mindful-
ness when they were aware of feeling Bnervous^ or Banxious^
about an upcoming event. For example, Hamish recalled, BI
used the breathing when I was feeling nervous the day before
a performance^. Indeed, the majority of students reported
using mindfulness when they felt anxious or nervous before
a test, and a few also used mindfulness before a performance.
Notably, for this group, all of the students who reported that
they did not use mindfulness before a test were boys.
Students in this study also reported using mindfulness tech-
niques when they were aware of feeling Bangry^ or
Bannoyed^. Julie shared, BI used the Smiling Mind app [a
smartphone application] when my sister really annoyed me^.
309
Though only reported by one boy, Charles, it is significant that
students may find it difficult to practice mindfulness when
experiencing anger: BIt’s really hard to do it when you’re upset
and angry^. Interestingly, Charles also reported that mindful-
ness Bhelps to get away anger and I feel calmer^, suggesting
that mindfulness may be useful at lower levels of anger, but
not when this emotion is at its highest.
A small subgroup composed of two girls, Georgia and
Belle, also reported using mindfulness when they were aware
of feeling Bsad^. Georgia shared, BI do this one [zooming in
zooming out meditation] when I am home and feeling sad or
lonely^.
Students also used mindfulness when they were aware of
repetitive cognitive processes, or as one girl shared, Bto take
my mind off things^. Predominantly, nearly all the students
reported using mindfulness techniques on an occasion when
they found themselves worrying. Hamish recalled, BI used
mindfulness before a test when I was feeling worried…the
day before the test^. One boy, Liam, who had experienced
bullying at his previous school also reported using mindful-
ness when he was aware of himself ruminating: BWhen I am
remembering the bad things that happened at my old school, I
take a deep breath^.
The responses revealed a global perception expressed by
all of the students that mindfulness is Bgood^ or Bhelpful^ for
emotional regulation. The students either identified specific
emotions for which they perceived mindfulness would be use-
ful in regulating, or named situations in which they felt they
could better cope by using mindfulness. For example, Charles
reported that Bmindfulness is good for when you are scared or
sad^ and Georgia shared BI think I’ll use it [mindfulness]
when I’m staying with dad and missing my mum^.
Interestingly, even the students who reported that they
disliked the Triple R Program acknowledged the utility of
mindfulness in managing emotions. Linking to the earlier sec-
tion exploring student’s engagement with the Triple R
Program, a subtheme drawn from some of the student’s re-
sponses was that they Bliked^ mindfulness because it helped
them to regulate their emotions. For example, Tamara shared,
BI like it [mindfulness] because it helped me feel less worried
about the NAPLAN (National Assessment Program—
Literacy and Numeracy)^. Together, students perceived mind-
fulness to be useful in coping with challenging situations or
regulating emotions, regardless of whether or not they enjoyed
the Triple R Program, and liked mindfulness because of this
perceived utility. Moreover, students in this study reported
being aware of the impact of mindfulness techniques on their
emotional state.
All of the students reported experiencing and noticing
changes in their emotional state after practicing mindfulness.
A strong subtheme was the experience of returning to an emo-
tional equilibrium after practicing mindfulness, or as Liam de-
scribed, simply feeling Bbetter and happier^. Predominantly, the
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students expressed feeling Bcalm^ and Brelaxed^ after practic-
ing mindfulness. For example, Belle shared how focussing on
the breath and practicing the Bpause button^ meditation helped
her to calm down. Additionally, a small subgroup of students
expressed that calming down through the practice of mindful-
ness facilitated clarity of thought or attentional control. For
instance, Julie shared that Bit makes me calm down and think
instead of panicking^, whilst Tamara said, BI put on Smiling
Mind before I had a test and I felt relaxed and focussed^.
The thematic analysis also elicited several subthemes
outlining which negative affective states were experienced
by the students to improve after practicing mindfulness.
Students were aware of feeling less Bworried^ after practicing
mindfulness. For example, Tamara shared, BIt makes me relax
and stop worrying^. Another prominent subtheme was regu-
lating or recovering from Bpanic^. Georgia recalled, B…so I
did the breathing. I felt calm and I was not panicking
anymore^. Some students also reported being aware of reduc-
tions in Banger^ and Bsad[ness]^ after practicing mindfulness;
however, these codes did not arise frequently enough in the
student’s responses to qualify as subthemes.
Practice of Mindfulness
Student’ responses regarding their practice of mindfulness re-
vealed a number of techniques are utilised including breath-
ing, shifting to the present, and use of the Smiling Mind
smartphone application (Smiling Mind 2016). The spontane-
ous use of a smartphone application was particularly notewor-
thy given that participants were not introduced to the applica-
tion as a component of the program. Participant responses also
indicated a number of misconceptions regarding the practice
of mindfulness.
Out of the mindfulness techniques practiced, students most
frequently reported practicing mindfulness by Bfocus[ing] on
their breath^. Indeed, all of the students except for Jack re-
ported focussing on or taking deep breaths. Even Jack report-
ed that he would consider using Bthe breathing^ when Bthere’s
something important^ in the future. Some of the students
shared that they also practice mindfulness by shifting their
attention to the present. Belle reflected, Bthe mindfulness
helped me overcome fear by practicing that right now, I’m
in the present^. Significantly, this theme was drawn from the
responses of the only two students interviewed who were
known to have experienced trauma, in the form of either fam-
ily trauma or high levels of bullying.
Three of the girls (Julie, Tamara, and Georgia) reported
their acquisition and use of the Smiling Mind smartphone
application to practice mindfulness at home. Julie shared that
she uses it at home to help her relax, slow down, and think.
These girls also reported using the Smiling Mind application
to control or recover from feelings of nervousness and panic,
as well as frustration, and improve a Bbad day^. As this theme
Contemp School Psychol (2017) 21:304–316
emerged through the interview process, further information
was sought regarding the use of Smiling Mind in the class-
room. It was found that all of the teachers of the participants in
the current study used Smiling Mind regularly in the class-
room after being exposed to it within the Triple R Program,
whilst no teachers had used this application before the
program.
A final theme relevant to the practice of mindfulness
was the students’ misconceptions of what constitutes
mindfulness. Notably, three of the four boys (Liam,
Jack, and Hamish) expressed the understanding that
mindfulness involved distraction while Jack also
expressed that he understood mindfulness as relaxation
and that he uses it to help him sleep. None of the
comments made by the girls were classified as miscon-
ceptions regarding the practice of mindfulness.
Discussion
The aim of the present study was to explore primary
school student’s experience of a 6-week mindfulness-
based intervention, as well as their motivations and
means of using mindfulness techniques. The thematic
analysis identified eleven themes surrounding the gener-
al acceptance of the mindfulness-based intervention, the
use of mindfulness for emotional regulation as well as
factors contributing to the formulation of this motiva-
tion, specific techniques utilised by the students, and
several misconceptions of mindfulness.
Students’ Experiences of Mindfulness-Based Programs
Our findings support previous research reporting
mindfulness-based interventions to be generally embraced
by students (Mendelson et al. 2010; Schonert-Reichl et al.
2015). Additionally, the present findings extend existing liter-
ature by specifying program and participant factors which
promoted or limited students’ engagement with the
mindfulness-based intervention. Namely, students enjoyed
parts of the program in which they were actively involved,
rather than passively listening. Further, previous experience
with mindfulness may be a barrier to program engagement,
though as depicted above, this is not always the case.
Mindfulness for Emotional Regulation
Compared to other indices of social and emotional wellbeing
studied in paediatric populations, emotional regulation, cop-
ing, and emotional reactivity are amongst the few domains
consistently shown by a number of studies to be enhanced
by mindfulness-based interventions (Coholic 2012;
DeUrquiza 2014; Flook et al. 2015; Schonert-Reichl et al.
Contemp School Psychol (2017) 21:304–316
2015; White 2012). Our findings strongly support previous
research demonstrating the salutary impact of mindfulness
on emotional regulation, with all of the eight students
interviewed reporting that they use mindfulness techniques
to regulate their emotions, as well as emotion-related repeti-
tive cognitive processes. Interestingly, whilst research consis-
tently reports the impact of mindfulness on emotional regula-
tion, studies investigating the impact of mindfulness on the
regulation of specific emotions or behaviours (e.g., anxiety,
aggressiveness), report inconsistent findings (e.g., Mendelson
et al. 2010; Semple et al. 2010; White 2012). Our findings
indicated that not all students reported using mindfulness
techniques for the same emotions. For example, while
many students in the present study used mindfulness
when experiencing anxiety or fear, only a few students
did so when experiencing sadness or anger. Thus, it
may well be that studies investigating the impact of
mindfulness on specific emotional and behavioural out-
comes yield inconsistent findings because different chil-
dren use mindfulness techniques to regulate different
emotions, resulting in large interpersonal differences on
specific emotional and behavioural outcome measures
(e.g., Semple et al. 2005).
Looking at specific emotional states, the students’ use
of mindfulness to regulate anxiety and fear in the pres-
ent study corroborates the results of some studies
highlighting reductions in self-rated or teacher-rated
anxiety (Linden 1973; Mendelson et al. 2010; Napoli
et al. 2005). Several studies have indicated reductions
in aggressive or oppositional behaviour (Schonert-Reichl
and Lawlor 2010; Semple et al. 2005, 2010), which is
consistent with reports by a few of the students in the
present study of utilising mindfulness techniques to reg-
ulate emotions of anger, frustration, and annoyance.
Finally, several students also reported using mindfulness
when experiencing sadness or noticing repetitive cogni-
tive processes such as worry or rumination. Whilst pre-
vious studies have not found mindfulness to impact self-
reported negative affect (Mendelson et al. 2010;
Schonert-Reichl and Lawlor 2010), some report reduc-
tions in depressive symptomatology (Schonert-Reichl
et al. 2015), and rumination (Lee et al. 2008;
Mendelson et al. 2010), consistent with present findings.
Contextualising mindfulness within the umbrella of
emotion regulation, Chambers et al. (2009) proposed a
construct of mindful emotional regulation as one strate-
gy of emotion regulation, distinct from other emotion
regulation strategies such as suppression of emotional
expression, and cognitive reappraisal of emotion pro-
voking events. Mindful emotional regulation involves
changing one’s relationship with emotions by not iden-
tifying with mental events as they arise, consciously
disengaging from any tendency to judge or appraise
311
the mental event, and focussing directly on awareness
rather than the experienced external or internal event.
By doing so, the individual is to recognise the indepen-
dence and unaffectedness of the awareness from experi-
enced events. In the present study, the students most
frequently reported that they focused on the breath in
the presence of an undesired emotion. The question,
then, is whether this reflects a form of avoidance or
distraction from the disturbing emotion. Indeed, some
students expressed misconceptions of mindfulness as be-
ing the practice of distracting oneself from distressing
mental events, a direct antithesis to the essence of
mindfulness (Kabat-Zinn 1994). Further, none of the
students reported observing the emotional response
whilst consciously refraining from appraisal, as is one
process of mindful emotional regulation (Chambers
et al. 2009). At the same time, when students reported
Bputting on Smiling Mind^ after a Bbad day^, it is likely
that they were regulating their emotions by bringing
their attention nonjudgmentally to their present emotion-
al, cognitive, and physiological state as part of the guid-
ed meditation on the Smiling Mind application. In ad-
dition, student reports of Bfocusing on the breath^ per-
haps represents the student bringing his or her attention
to the present experience without ignoring, changing, or
suppressing their emotional response. This perhaps re-
flects their first step towards focussing upon and iden-
tifying with awareness, rather than with the emotional
experience, consistent with the construct of mindful
emotional regulation (Chambers et al. 2009).
The construct of mindful emotional regulation reso-
nates strongly with the processes of decentering and
exposure argued by other researchers to mediate the re-
lationship between mindfulness and emotional regulation
(Holzel et al. 2011; Shapiro et al. 2006). Decentering is
the practice of perceiving thoughts, emotions, and sensa-
tions as events in the mind, rather than as reflections of
the self, thereby creating a distance between the experi-
ence and experiencer and allowing greater flexibility to
consciously respond, rather than react to external and
internal events (Bishop et al. 2004; Safran and Segal
1990; Shapiro et al. 2006). In the present study, the re-
sponses of the students reflected some level of distance
between the child and their experienced emotion. The
students’ awareness of their emotional state and attempts
to modulate their emotions indicates their understanding
that emotions are separate from self. In addition, the
students’ active selection of a response or regulatory
strategy supports the current understanding that
decentering in mindfulness practice allows the individual
greater freedom and mental flexibility to choose a re-
sponse rather than react instinctively in a given situation
(Coffey et al. 2010; Shapiro et al. 2006).
312
Mindfulness is also thought to counter the tendency to
avoid undesirable emotional states and promote greater
exposure to undesirable emotional states by enabling the indi-
vidual to experience strong emotions with enhanced objectiv-
ity and less reactivity through practices such as decentering,
and aided by the relaxation often accompanying mindfulness
practices (Bishop et al. 2004; Holzel et al. 2011; Shapiro et al.
2006). Through this exposure, the individual learns that emo-
tions, thoughts, and sensations are not overwhelming or per-
manent, thus enabling the extinction of the fear response and
avoidance behaviours which maintain and escalate anxiety
(Shapiro et al. 2006). The students frequently recalled using
a mindfulness technique (e.g., focussing on the breath) when
experiencing anxiety, fear, or panic, and subsequently report-
ed facing the feared situation (e.g., test, performance),
supporting previous research highlighting the mechanism of
exposure in mindfulness meditation (Holzel et al. 2011;
Shapiro et al. 2006).
Practice of Mindfulness
This study found students to practice mindfulness pri-
marily by focussing on the breath, consistent with pre-
vious research sharing student’s reports of focussing on
their breath (Costello and Lawler 2014). Students also
reported shifting their attention from the past to the
present experience, consistent with the central concept
in mindfulness asserting that remaining in the present
moment, ruminating about the past, and worrying about
the future are mutually exclusive actions (McKenzie and
Hassed 2013). Surprisingly, several students practiced
mindfulness using the guided meditations on the
Smiling Mind application. This was an unexpected find-
ing, and to our knowledge, this study is the first to
report student’s spontaneous use of technology to sup-
port their practice of mindfulness. This last finding has
significant implications for future development, imple-
mentation, and research of mindfulness-based interven-
tions for students which will be discussed below.
Implications
The key implications of the present study are fourfold.
Firstly, our findings have significant implications for the
implementation and development of mindfulness-based
interventions, indicating that limited amounts of formal
explanations of mindfulness where students are passive-
ly listening, and greater emphasis on experiential com-
ponents is likely to promote greater program engage-
ment in primary school students. This implication sup-
ports the adaptations made in the Mindfulness-Based
Cognitive Therapy for Students where hands on activi-
ties and experiential components are emphasised to
Contemp School Psychol (2017) 21:304–316
make the mindfulness-based intervention accessible to
students (Semple et al. 2005, 2010).
Second, mindfulness techniques are strategies of emo-
tional regulation which students perceive to be useful
and which are spontaneously utilised by students in
the presence of undesired emotions for self-regulation.
Third, the most common mindfulness technique remem-
bered and utilised by students was focussing on the
breath, emphasising the importance of incorporating
breathing in mindfulness-based interventions for stu-
dents. Finally, incorporating applications such as
Smiling Mind which provide free and easily accessible
guided meditations within a mindfulness-based interven-
tion encourages students to independently access and
utilise such applications, thus supporting the continued
practice and benefits of mindfulness.
Strengths and Limitations
This study provided important contributions to the under-
standing of mindfulness and mindfulness-based interventions
in primary school students. Significantly, this research has
been conducted with¸ and not on, students in that it has aimed
to capture and express their experiences of mindfulness in
their voices.
There were, however, several limitations in this study.
Firstly, the findings reflect the experience of the eight,
Australian, primary school-aged participants in this
group, all of whom were perceived by their teachers
to have elevated levels of anxiety, low coping strategies,
or potential difficulties in transitioning to secondary
school. The results should therefore be considered with-
in this context. Future replication of this study in other
settings may determine whether the experiences and
themes which were identified are comparable across
settings.
Additionally, during the interview process, it emerged
that a few of the students had previous experience with
mindfulness, before the Triple R Program. This was
unexpected, and therefore findings reflect to some de-
gree the impact of mindfulness in general, rather than
only skills taught within the Triple R Program.
Consequently, future replications of this study should
involve pre-intervention screening of participants to es-
tablish baseline perceptions and habits against which to
evaluate the impact of this program. A methodological
limitation was that the interviews were not recorded,
which may have led to omission of information.
Cross-validation of themes with the participants them-
selves would also have added significantly to the trust-
worthiness of the results; however, the desire to ensure
methodological rigour has to be balanced with the edu-
cational costs in a school setting.
Contemp School Psychol (2017) 21:304–316
After the completion of the interviews, it was retrospective-
ly determined that two of the prompts in the interview sched-
ule were leading questions (e.g., BDid you use mindfulness
when you were worried and could not sleep?^). Therefore,
responses from these questions were not included in the the-
matic analysis. Finally, as this study was largely exploratory
and followed an inductive process, the interview schedule was
not tailored to investigate models of emotional regulation and
mindfulness.
Directions for Future Research
The findings and limitations of the present study provide
several directions on how future research can extend our
current understanding of students’ experiences of
mindfulness-based interventions, and use of mindfulness
techniques. In relation to program and participant factors
moderating program engagement or disengagement, fur-
ther research is needed to explore whether previous expe-
rience with mindfulness is a barrier to program engage-
ment. Additionally, alternative ways of delivering infor-
mation about mindfulness need to be investigated as many
students reported this aspect of the program to be boring.
Looking at the use of mindfulness to regulate emotions, a
number of questions remain to be investigated. Foremost, our
study is the first to suggest that different students may use
mindfulness to regulate different emotions and more research
is needed to explore interpersonal differences in the use of
mindfulness techniques. Similarly, the observation that it is
difficult to practice mindfulness when experiencing anger
warrants further investigation into when, and under which
conditions, mindfulness may be useful for emotional regula-
tion, particularly anger.
Second, research specifically investigating whether
student’s use of mindfulness truly reflects mindful emo-
tional regulation is needed. When students report using
mindfulness to regulate their emotions, a question arises
as to whether they are attempting to observe the mental
event without judgement or appraisal or whether they
are trying to suppress the emotion. Further research
should also explore whether they are shifting their at-
tention towards the awareness of the experience, thereby
practicing decentering, or if their Bpractice of
mindfulness^ is merely distraction from the undesired
emotional experience. Relatedly, student’s conceptions
of what mindfulness is need to be investigated to deter-
mine whether mindfulness-based interventions are truly
teaching mindfulness to students, as opposed to other
emotional regulation strategies which may contradict
the construct of mindfulness.
Pertaining to how students practice mindfulness, our study
revealed the spontaneous use of technology to support mind-
fulness. Further research is now needed to understand factors
313
that promote or bar students from accessing and using appli-
cations such as Smiling Mind, how and when students use
such applications, and the impact of such use on social and
emotional wellbeing.
Conclusion
In summary, this study added to previous research
reporting the acceptance of mindfulness-based interven-
tions by primary school students and extended the liter-
ature by highlighting the importance of experiential ac-
tivities to enhance student’s engagement in mindfulness
sessions. Our findings also demonstrated that students
used mindfulness to regulate their emotions, consistent
with many studies reporting the impact of mindfulness
on emotional regulation. However, not all students
utilised mindfulness techniques for the same undesired
emotional states, potentially explaining the inconsistent
findings in the literature investigating the impact of
mindfulness on specific emotional and behavioural out-
come measures in students. Contextualising these find-
ings within current theoretical models of mindfulness
and emotional regulation, some of the students’ re-
sponses reflected misconceptions of mindfulness as a
form of distraction. Nevertheless, our findings did show
some evidence that the students attended nonjudgmen-
tally to their emotions and began to shift their attention
from the experience to the awareness, consistent with
Chambers et al. (2009)‘s model of mindful emotional
regulation. Our findings also supported current theories
emphasising the mechanisms of decentering and expo-
sure in explaining the connection between mindfulness
and emotional regulation. Finally, the findings of this
study indicated that students practice mindfulness by
focussing on their breath, consistent with previous stud-
ies and shifting their attention to the present.
Significantly, this study was amongst the first to find
that students spontaneously access guided meditation
through technology to practice mindfulness. The results
of the current study suggest that mindfulness interven-
tions in schools are well received by students and can
be an effective tool for emotional regulation.
Compliance with Ethical Standards All procedures performed in
studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical
standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with
the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable
ethical standards.
Conflict of Interest Statement The authors declare that they have no
conflict of interest.
314 Contemp School Psychol (2017) 21:304–316

Appendix A: Outline of Program Sessions

Session 1: Mindfulness of breath activity

Robust and resilient Introduction to the workshop
Relationship building activity
Worksheet about worrying
How different people worry about different things
Wellbeing garden metaphor
Two pictures - one thriving garden, one neglected
Discuss how we care for a garden
Metaphor for wellbeing - how we can care for ourselves
Mindfulness feather activity
Mindful Monkey/Happy Panda book
Mindfulness activity - Little Frog
Session 2: BThe Heart Chamber^ mindfulness activity
My heart Picking a feeling card and describing to the group how/why I am feeling that way
Modelling how to share negative emotions
Brainstorming different emotions
Identifying emotions from facial expression cards
Weather report as a metaphor for emotions
Personal weather report mindfulness activity
Session 3: Body scan mindfulness activity
My body Given outline of body
Write the body cues of that emotion on the outline
Reflect on thoughts when those emotions are felt
Share results with class
Group discussion of experiences of situations that elicited similar emotions
Spaghetti test mindfulness activity
Session 4: Mindfulness activity: conveyor belt of worries
My mind Group discussion about anxiety promoting situations and how to cope
Group activity - discuss a given anxiety provoking scenario
Some issues are not solvable - discuss Bletting go^
Individual differences in anxiety
Reflection on breathing as a coping strategy
Session 5: Mindfulness exercise - using the pause button
Mindful relationships Using mindfulness to be a better friend
Using mindfulness to Bread minds^ - how others are thinking and feeling
Problem solving social difficulties
Consider how to use mindful problem solving to manage social difficulties such as fights with friends
Zoom in, zoom out mindfulness activity
Session 6: BA little boost^ mindfulness activity
Mindful me - ready to go Reflection -a word, image or model to describe mindfulness
Reflection - what works for you, how do we apply mindfulness to the real world
Sensory mindfulness activity
Session 7: Smiling Mind mindfulness exercise - BThe Bubble Journey^
Booster one - fighting worries Discussion of catastrophizing - the problems with thinking, what is the worst that can happen
Catastrophe chart
Rate scenarios based on how anxious I would feel
Write coping strategies alongside scenarios - things I can do, things I can think
Social connectedness - string exercise
Smiling Mind mindfulness exercise - BThoughts^
Contemp School Psychol (2017) 21:304–316
(continued)
Session 8: Progressive muscle relaxation
Booster two - sharing worries Book - The Huge Bag of Worries
Worry box activity
Make and decorate a worry box
Write worries on strips of paper and put into box
Social support
Trace hand and write on each finger one person I can talk to about worries (must include some trusted adults)
Smiling Mind Mindfulness exercise - BThe Bubble Journey^
Appendix B: Interview Questions
1) How did you find the Triple R Program?
2) Were there any things you learnt in the sessions that you
liked or used outside the session?
3) When did you practice mindfulness?
4) How did you feel after practicing mindfulness?
5) Did you use mindfulness in any of the following situations
(before tests and performances, to help fall asleep, around
people who make you feel nervous)?
6) Do you think you will use mindfulness in the future?
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Bavani Bannirchelvam MPsych (Ed & Dev) is a psychologist with a
background in school psychology.
Karen L. Bell MPsych (Ed & Dev) is a doctoral candidate, psychologist,
and Teaching Associate in the Faculty of Education, Monash University.
Shane Costello MPsych (Ed & Dev)/PhD is a Lecturer in educational
psychology and counselling in the Faculty of Education, Monash
University.
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