Clinical trial NCT06820619: Efficacy of Mindfulness-based Training for Teachers and Young Children for Social Emotional and Ethical Development (SEED)
Official title: Efficacy of Mindfulness-based Training for Teachers and Young Children for Social Emotional and Ethical Development (SEED)-Randomized Controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Development, Child
Mindfulness
Wellbeing
Keywords: social, emotional, and ethical development
mindfulness
mental well-being
young children
Lead sponsor: Chinese University of Hong Kong
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
First posted: 2025-02-11
Enrollment: 200
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 3
Maximum age (years): 7
Standard ages: CHILD
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: OTHER

Brief summary: The objectives of the present study are to (1) evaluate the effectiveness of implementing teachers' training on mindfulness and developing their competency in delivering the Social, Emotional, and Ethical Development (SEED) curriculum to preschool children and (2) evaluate the effectiveness of the SEED curriculum at kindergartens in improving children's well-being and related outcomes. Randomized controlled trials will be conducted to investigate the effectiveness of SEED teacher training and the SEED Curriculum. A minimum of four kindergartens will be recruited to participate in the study. Half of the kindergartens, teachers, and children will receive the training and SEED curriculum, while the other half will be assigned to the waitlist control condition. Upon informed consent from the school principals and parents, teachers will receive mindfulness training and complete pre- and post-training assessments, and one-month follow-up assessments. Teachers will be taught 8 mindfulness exercises to be integrated into daily teaching and students in the intervention group will receive a 30-minute lesson of SEED curriculum per week, 12 weeks in duration, led by the Bodhi Love Foundation SEED trainers. Parents and students will complete assessments before intervention and after intervention(in the 12th week).

Detailed description: According to the World Health Organization, early child development lays a critical foundation for healthy habits and long-term development, including health and well-being, as well as changing the trajectory of the next generation in maximizing human potential. Specifically, social-emotional learning (SEL) in early childhood lays the foundation for their later adjustment, including better emotional wellness and fewer internalizing and externalizing problems. Recently, numerous SEL programs have been developed worldwide. Among these evidence-based SEL programs, the Kindness Curriculum is a secular mindfulness-based SEL program designed for children between 4-6 years of age.

In Hong Kong, the Kindergarten Education Curriculum Guide has identified affective and social development as a major objective in early childhood. Better social-emotional competence is associated with preschool-aged children's lower anxiety and fewer aggressive behaviors in Hong Kong. However, the implementation of evidence-based SEL programs remains immature, with very few programs available for kindergartens and kindergarten-cum-child care settings and none being mindfulness-based. In response to fulfilling children's psychosocial needs, the Bodhi Love Foundation (BLF) has adapted the Kindness Curriculum for young children in Hong Kong. With the concerted efforts of a team of qualified local mindfulness teachers and Prof. Daniel Goleman as the advisor, the curriculum was translated from English to Chinese and has been adapted for implementation in the local cultural context. The adapted Kindness Curriculum, renamed as Social, Emotional, Ethical Development Curriculum (SEED), is a two-part program involving training teachers on mindfulness and delivery of SEED to young children. As such, the curriculum may be beneficial for both teachers and children.

The project's significance is to cultivate mindfulness and loving-kindness among our teachers and children to equip them with the mindset and skills needed for self-care and the promotion of mental well-being. Such well-being promotion and distress prevention approach that starts early in childhood lays a critical cornerstone for children to develop healthily, which can potentially reduce the incidence of mental illness among younger generations.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* For children: aged 3-7 years old, understand Cantonese
* For parents: aged 18 years old or above, understand Cantonese
* For teachers: aged 18 years old or above, understand Cantonese, currently working at a kindergarten

Exclusion Criteria:

* Cannot understand Cantonese

Primary outcomes:
measure: Mindfulness in Teaching Scale(MTS)
timeFrame: Pre-intervention assessment, Post-intervention assessment at 6th week, follow up assessment at 10th week
measure: Copenhagen Burnout Inventory
timeFrame: Pre-intervention assessment, Post-intervention assessment at 6th week, follow up assessment at 10th week
measure: The Impermanence Awareness and Acceptance Scale
timeFrame: Pre-intervention assessment, Post-intervention assessment at 6th week, follow up assessment at 10th week
measure: Interconnectedness Scale
timeFrame: Pre-intervention assessment, Post-intervention assessment at 6th week, follow up assessment at 10th week
measure: Mindfulness-Discernment Scale (MDS)
timeFrame: Pre-intervention assessment, Post-intervention assessment at 6th week, follow up assessment at 10th week
measure: Nonattachment Scale(NAS)-Short Form
timeFrame: Pre-intervention assessment, Post-intervention assessment at 6th week, follow up assessment at 10th week
measure: Santa Clara Brief Compassion Scale
timeFrame: Pre-intervention assessment, Post-intervention assessment at 6th week, follow up assessment at 10th week
measure: The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS)
timeFrame: Pre-intervention assessment, Post-intervention assessment at 6th week, follow up assessment at 10th week
measure: Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)
timeFrame: Pre-intervention assessment, Post-intervention assessment at 12th week
measure: Social Skills Improvement System-Rating Scales (Preschool Parents version) (SSIS - SEL)
timeFrame: Pre-intervention assessment, Post-intervention assessment at 12th week
measure: Child Prosocial Behavior Questionnaire (CPBQ)
timeFrame: Pre-intervention assessment, Post-intervention assessment at 12th week
measure: Children's Behavioral Questionnaire(CBQ) age 3-7-Short Form
timeFrame: Pre-intervention assessment, Post-intervention assessment at 12th week
measure: Delay of Shared Gratification Task
timeFrame: Pre-intervention assessment, Post-intervention assessment at 12th week
measure: Dictator game experiment
timeFrame: Pre-intervention assessment, Post-intervention assessment at 12th week
measure: Puppet Task
timeFrame: Pre-intervention assessment, Post-intervention assessment at 12th week
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Hong Kong
country: Hong Kong
facility: Dept of Psychology, CUHK, Hong Kong,
Study officials:
affiliation: Chinese University of Hong Kong
name: Winnie WS MAK
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
name: Rebecca YM Cheung
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Blewitt C, Fuller-Tyszkiewicz M, Nolan A, Bergmeier H, Vicary D, Huang T, McCabe P, McKay T, Skouteris H. Social and Emotional Learning Associated With Universal Curriculum-Based Interventions in Early Childhood Education and Care Centers: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Netw Open. 2018 Dec 7;1(8):e185727. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.5727.
citation: Green M, Kirby JN, Nielsen M. The cost of helping: An exploration of compassionate responding in children. Br J Dev Psychol. 2018 Nov;36(4):673-678. doi: 10.1111/bjdp.12252. Epub 2018 Jun 10.
citation: Flook L, Goldberg SB, Pinger L, Bonus K, Davidson RJ. Mindfulness for teachers: A pilot study to assess effects on stress, burnout and teaching efficacy. Mind Brain Educ. 2013 Sep;7(3):10.1111/mbe.12026. doi: 10.1111/mbe.12026.
citation: Dunning D, Tudor K, Radley L, Dalrymple N, Funk J, Vainre M, Ford T, Montero-Marin J, Kuyken W, Dalgleish T. Do mindfulness-based programmes improve the cognitive skills, behaviour and mental health of children and adolescents? An updated meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Evid Based Ment Health. 2022 Jul 12;25(3):135-42. doi: 10.1136/ebmental-2022-300464. Online ahead of print.