Boys in detention said they put things off less after group mindfulness
Who it’s about: Children
- Helped
After eight weekly group mindfulness sessions, boys said they put things off less than boys without the sessions.
Small randomised trial of 30 teenage boys in a youth detention centre · vs boys who only filled in the questionnaires · they rated themselves · ⚠ numbers unreliable; results look too good to be true
The study
Who took part
30 boys aged 11 to 18 in a youth detention centre in Yazd, Iran, about 14 on average. All had hurt themselves on purpose in the past year.
What they did
15 boys had eight weekly 2-hour group sessions of mindfulness, which means calmly noticing the body, breath and thoughts. They practised a 3-minute breathing break three times a day, mindful walking and noting pleasant and unpleasant events. The other 15 boys only filled in the questionnaires.
What happened
At the end, the mindfulness group rated themselves as putting things off less than the other group. The difference was implausibly large. The paper's table of scores for putting things off copies another outcome's rows, so we can't give sizes. There was no later check.
Source
The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Training on Self-Efficacy, Self-Harming Behaviors and Procrastination of Correctional Center Adolescents (2026)
DOI: 10.66224/rooyesh.15.4.191 (opens in a new tab)
