The preliminary outcomes of mindfulness and mental health interventions across Deis and Non Deis schools

Authors

Byrne, Michelle

Issue Date

2016

Degree

BA (Hons) in Psychology

Publisher

Dublin Business School

Rights

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Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of a Mindfulness and Mental Health intervention for adolescents aged 15 to 18 years, across co-educationally disad-vantaged schools as outlined by the department of education in Ireland, one being a Deis school, and one a Non-Deis school in the greater Dublin area. A mixed methodology experiment design was used to examine the differences between and within groups following a Mindfulness & Mental Health intervention. This examined the extent to which the interventions were attributable to increases measured in mindfulness aware-ness, accepting, describing, observing and decreases in stress, anxiety and depression levels across a co-educational sample of leaving cert students. Participation in the Mindfulness and Mental-Health interventions significantly lowered levels of stress and anxiety and increased levels of Mindfulness Awareness. These results sup-port existing research regarding engagement in regular Mindfulness practice and Mental Health discussions, having beneficial effects on individual’s wellbeing. Author keywords: Mindfulness, Mental-Health, Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Adolescents

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