A pilot randomized trial teaching mindfulness-based stress reduction to traumatized youth in foster care

• Published in: Complementary therapies in clinical practice Vol. 21; no. 3; pp. 201 - 209
• Main Authors: Jee, Sandra H, Couderc, Jean-Philippe, Swanson, Dena, Gallegos, Autumn, Hilliard, Cammie, Blumkin, Aaron, Cunningham, Kendall, Heinert, Sara
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-08-2015
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Electrocardiography; Female; Foster care; Foster Home Care; Humans; Internal Medicine; Kinship care; Male; Medical Education; Mindfulness; Mindfulness - methods; Nursing; Pilot Projects; Stress; Stress, Psychological - therapy; Young Adult; Youth; PSC; CAMM; STAIS; Child Adolescent Mindfulness Measure; Kinship care; Youth; Mindfulness; Foster care; Pediatric Symptom Checklist; State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children; Stress
• ISSN: 1744-3881; 1873-6947
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2015.06.007

Abstract This article presents a pilot project implementing a mindfulness–based stress reduction program among traumatized youth in foster and kinship care over 10 weeks. Forty-two youth participated in this randomized controlled trial that used a mixed-methods (quantitative, qualitative, and physiologic) evaluation. Youth self-report measuring mental health problems, mindfulness, and stress were lower than anticipated, and the relatively short time-frame to teach these skills to traumatized youth may not have been sufficient to capture significant changes in stress as measured by electrocardiograms. Main themes from qualitative data included expressed competence in managing ongoing stress, enhanced self-awareness, and new strategies to manage stress. We share our experiences and recommendations for future research and practice, including focusing efforts on younger youth, and using community-based participatory research principles to promote engagement and co-learning. Clinicaltrials.gov Protocol Registration System ID NCT01708291.