Mindfulness Initiatives for Students, Teachers, and Parents: a Review of Literature and Implications for Practice During COVID-19 and Beyond

The article addresses how mindfulness can support the psychosocial functioning of students, teachers, and parents during COVID-19 and beyond, particularly as education shifted to remote and hybrid formats. It outlines the pandemic’s impacts (e.g., school closures, increased stress and anxiety, online learning challenges) and posits mindfulness as a mechanism to foster self-regulation, resilience, and well-being across school communities. The purpose is to synthesize research on school-based and parenting mindfulness, identify effective components for students and educators, and translate these findings into practical, technology-enabled strategies for school psychologists to implement in varied contexts.

The review covers three domains: (1) students, (2) teachers, and (3) parents/families, with attention to online delivery. For students, school-based mindfulness has been integrated into SEL and specific curricula (e.g., Mindful Schools, MindUP, A Still Quiet Place, Learning to Breathe), showing improvements in attention, self-regulation, and stress reduction, though some studies have mixed results and methodological limitations. For teachers, mindfulness programs (e.g., MBSR, MBWE, CARE, SMART) generally reduce stress and burnout and increase well-being, self-efficacy, and autonomous classroom climates. For parents, mindful parenting, MBSR, and ACT-based approaches reduce stress, anxiety, and depression and improve parent-child relationships across families with and without disabilities. The review also discusses moderators, mediators, and implementation factors (e.g., fidelity, program fit, contextual constraints) and the emergent evidence for remote/online mindfulness and teleconsultation as viable modalities during COVID-19.

The authors conducted literature searches using Academic Search Premier, APA PsycArticles, APA PsycBooks, CINAHL EBSCO, ERIC, and MEDLINE. Search terms included “mindfulness in schools,” “parenting mindfulness,” “mindfulness for teachers,” “mindfulness interventions for children/adolescents,” and specific therapies incorporating mindfulness such as “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.” Articles focused solely on DBT were excluded due to its specialized clinical training requirements. The review primarily included reviews, meta-analyses, and original empirical studies using quantitative or mixed-methods designs; qualitative-only research was included selectively (e.g., for online school-based programs) to illuminate contextual and implementation factors.

Students: Multiple reviews report benefits from school-based mindfulness, including improved attention and reduced anxiety and behavior problems (e.g., Meiklejohn et al., Semple et al.). Waters et al. (2015) analyzed 15 studies with 76 calculable effects: 61% were significant overall; for well-being, 59% of 17 results were significant; for social competence, 33% of effects (across 776 students) were significant with small effect sizes, strongest for teacher-rated social behavior; academic outcomes are less studied but showed mixed effect sizes (50% large, 25% medium, 25% small). Sciutto et al. (2021) found improvements in teacher-rated internalizing/externalizing in K–2 with greater gains in grades 1–2. Phan et al. (2022) reviewed 77 studies (>12,000 students); highest-quality (“A grade”) evidence showed increases in prosocial behavior, executive function, resilience, attention, and mindful awareness, and decreases in anxiety, ADHD behaviors, and conduct problems; mixed well-being effects and null effects on depression. Teachers: RCTs and pilots show mindfulness increases life satisfaction, positive affect, general health, and reduces insomnia, stress, and negative affect (Tsang et al., 2021); benefits are greater for teachers with lower baseline well-being. Programs such as MBWE, CARE, and SMART improved mindfulness, self-efficacy, well-being, motivation, and classroom relationships, and reduced burnout/stress (e.g., Jennings et al., Flook et al., Frank et al.). During COVID-19, mindfulness training mitigated negative psychological outcomes (Matiz et al., 2020). Parents: Mindful parenting and MBSR/ACT-based interventions reduce parenting stress and psychopathology and improve parent-child interactions across diverse groups, including parents of children with ASD/ADHD and developmental delays (e.g., Singh et al.; Rayan & Ahmad; Neece et al.; Coatsworth et al.). Neece et al. (2019) found MBSR equally effective for Latinx and non-Latinx parents in reducing stress and improving life satisfaction and child behavior. Online/tech-based delivery: Short online mindfulness sessions (e.g., a single 15-min session) can immediately reduce anxiety, stress, and COVID-19 concerns (Farris et al., 2021). Audio-guided daily practice improved elementary grades and behavior (Bakosh et al., 2016). Video-based Mind Yeti improved executive functions (Ritter & Alvarez, 2020). Teleconsultation for school services is feasible and acceptable (Fischer et al., 2017; King et al., 2022), and app-based mindfulness (e.g., Headspace, Calm) can influence biological stress markers (Lindsay et al., 2017). Implementation: Reviews highlight the need to study moderators (e.g., baseline well-being, demographics), mediators (e.g., self-regulation), and fidelity; barriers include timing, environmental conditions, and communication/logistics (Dariotis et al., 2016; Tudor et al., 2022).

Findings support mindfulness as a flexible, scalable approach to bolster self-regulation, attention, and socio-emotional competence for students, reduce stress and enhance well-being and teaching efficacy for educators, and decrease stress and psychopathology while improving relationships in families. During COVID-19, technology-enabled delivery (teleconsultation, online sessions, apps) increased accessibility and allowed continuity of services, with preliminary evidence of efficacy. Integrating mindfulness into multi-tiered supports (universal to individualized), embedding within SEL curricula, and training teachers to practice and deliver mindfulness may amplify effects for students and promote healthier classroom climates. For parents, mindful self-care and family practices can mitigate pandemic-related stress and strengthen parent-child interactions. Addressing implementation science (fidelity, context fit, stakeholder engagement) and understanding who benefits most (moderators/mediators) are key to optimizing outcomes.

The paper synthesizes evidence that mindfulness initiatives can positively impact students’ executive function and behavior, teachers’ stress and well-being, and parents’ stress and family relationships, and offers practical, tech-enabled strategies for school psychologists to implement during and beyond COVID-19. It underscores the promise of online delivery and tiered implementation in schools. Future research should employ more rigorous designs, standardize child-appropriate outcome measures, examine online/synchronous vs. asynchronous formats, assess fidelity and mechanisms of change, and evaluate moderators/mediators and contextual variables to refine targeting and maximize effectiveness.

Across the literature, common limitations include small samples, non-experimental or quasi-experimental designs, heterogeneity of interventions, and limited validated measures for some outcomes (especially in children). Evidence for academic outcomes is sparse and mixed; effects on depression are often null. Online/remote mindfulness evidence remains preliminary with short-term assessments. Many studies lack detailed implementation data (e.g., fidelity, dosage), do not capture mediators/mechanisms, and underreport moderators (e.g., school context). Measurement and fidelity challenges are amplified in home-based and asynchronous settings, complicating causal inference and generalizability.