The Effects of Mindfulness-Based Interventions on Children’s Executive Functions: An Updated Meta-Analysis

The Effects of Mindfulness-Based Interventions on Children’s Executive Functions: An Updated Meta-Analysis | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The Effects of Mindfulness-Based Interventions on Children’s Executive Functions: An Updated Meta-Analysis Neng Daris Salamah Elmi Putri Sibron, Boglarka Vekety, Alexander Logemann, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8662098/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for children are gaining interest. The evidence base, however, is not clear regarding the benefits. While some authors have challenged whether there are substantial benefits to children and adolescents (e.g., Dunning et al., 2022b), Takacs and Kassai ( 2019 ) found MBIs the most promising intervention avenue to foster children’s executive function (EF) skills – although based on a handful of studies that were available up to 2016. Hence, the present meta-analysis is an update regarding the efficacy of MBIs for EF skills in children (up to 12 years of age). A comprehensive search was conducted in five electronic databases, including unpublished dissertations and theses, which resulted in 22 studies that met the inclusion criteria to be included in analyses regarding post-test differences of which 20 provided data to be included in the analysis regarding pre-test to post-test change. The results showed a significant, small positive effect on children’s EF skills overall \(\:\left(k=20,\:{g}^{+}=0.25,\:SE=0.09,\:95\%\:CI\:\left[0.08,\:0.42\right],\:p=0.004\right).\) However, a significant effect was found only for inhibitory control. A similar effect appeared on cognitive flexibility but only when change from pre- to post- test change was considered, while no effect was found on working memory. In conclusion, while MBIs seem to benefit children’s inhibitory control skills and potentially cognitive flexibility to only a small extent and not other aspects of executive function skills. Most importantly, the effect disappeared when MBIs were compared to active control conditions. The results question the practical benefits of applying MBIs in schools. mindfulness intervention executive function meta-analysis children Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files MetaanalysisSupplementaryMaterials.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8662098","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":580797639,"identity":"88868c21-a52f-418a-93d2-74be0c4f9b53","order_by":0,"name":"Neng Daris Salamah Elmi Putri Sibron","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA20lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYLCCBAaJBCDF+ABI8PARVs8M18JsANLCRpQWsEUMDGwSIBZBLeYS+cc+PPhjkWfe3nus8muOnQwbA/PDRzfwaLGckcw8I7FNoljmzLm027LbkoEOYzM2zsGjxeBGMjNDYoNE4gyJHLPbktuYgVp42KQJakn4A9FSLLmtnlgtbBAtjB+3HSasxbLnsTEDyC8SPGeMpRm3HedhYybgF3P2xMeMP/7U5Umw9xh+/Lmt2p6fvfnhY7wOQ+Yw84BJPMoxtDD+IKB6FIyCUTAKRiYAAPt4P51rXaOxAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Eötvös Loránd University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Neng","middleName":"Daris Salamah Elmi Putri","lastName":"Sibron","suffix":""},{"id":580797640,"identity":"b0eb86c5-0f75-4de2-a4ed-c606d4bf9f82","order_by":1,"name":"Boglarka Vekety","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Eötvös Loránd University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Boglarka","middleName":"","lastName":"Vekety","suffix":""},{"id":580797641,"identity":"41d33553-fe7d-4d21-8682-421dd95b8a6e","order_by":2,"name":"Alexander Logemann","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Eötvös Loránd University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Alexander","middleName":"","lastName":"Logemann","suffix":""},{"id":580797642,"identity":"63d3cba2-85a1-4291-8a59-4caf2cd20a3f","order_by":3,"name":"Zsofia K.Takacs","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Edinburgh","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zsofia","middleName":"","lastName":"K.Takacs","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-21 16:38:21","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8662098/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8662098/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":101398441,"identity":"a83acc10-fdfb-4949-9bde-e57d0d62ff25","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-29 09:41:30","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":674268,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"TheEffectsofMindfulnessBasedInterventionsonChildrensExecutiveFunctionsAnUpdatedMetaAnalysis.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8662098/v1_covered_3472dfc2-532d-4529-bf21-95fd4e50f4c4.pdf"},{"id":101348718,"identity":"88030a9e-6d61-4138-88be-e2785a8a8f3f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-28 18:04:23","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":108141,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"MetaanalysisSupplementaryMaterials.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8662098/v1/67380c6cbae4c87146a12e5c.docx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"The Effects of Mindfulness-Based Interventions on Children’s Executive Functions: An Updated Meta-Analysis","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"mindfulness intervention, executive function, meta-analysis, children","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8662098/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8662098/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eMindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for children are gaining interest. The evidence base, however, is not clear regarding the benefits. While some authors have challenged whether there are substantial benefits to children and adolescents (e.g., Dunning et al., 2022b), Takacs and Kassai (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR75\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e) found MBIs the most promising intervention avenue to foster children\u0026rsquo;s executive function (EF) skills \u0026ndash; although based on a handful of studies that were available up to 2016. Hence, the present meta-analysis is an update regarding the efficacy of MBIs for EF skills in children (up to 12 years of age). A comprehensive search was conducted in five electronic databases, including unpublished dissertations and theses, which resulted in 22 studies that met the inclusion criteria to be included in analyses regarding post-test differences of which 20 provided data to be included in the analysis regarding pre-test to post-test change. The results showed a significant, small positive effect on children\u0026rsquo;s EF skills overall \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:\\left(k=20,\\:{g}^{+}=0.25,\\:SE=0.09,\\:95\\%\\:CI\\:\\left[0.08,\\:0.42\\right],\\:p=0.004\\right).\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e However, a significant effect was found only for inhibitory control. A similar effect appeared on cognitive flexibility but only when change from pre- to post- test change was considered, while no effect was found on working memory. In conclusion, while MBIs seem to benefit children\u0026rsquo;s inhibitory control skills and potentially cognitive flexibility to only a small extent and not other aspects of executive function skills. Most importantly, the effect disappeared when MBIs were compared to active control conditions. 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