Investigating the impact of the mindkinder mindfulness-based program on children's well-being and behavioral outcomes

The aim of this study is to introduce the "Turkish Shortened Adaptation of the MindKinder Mindfulness Program," a mindfulness-based social and emotional learning program, into the Turkish literature and to examine its effects on preschool children's psychological well-being and behaviors, including social skills, problem behaviors, and peer play behaviors. Within this scope, the program was linguistically and culturally adapted into Turkish, and an implementation process was carried out in accordance with a quasi-experimental pre-test–post-test control group design. The study group consisted of five-year-old children who participated in two experimental conditions: in Experimental Group 1, the researcher, also serving as the classroom teacher, implemented the program, while in Experimental Group 2, the researcher functioned solely as the program facilitator. Both experimental groups participated in an eight-week implementation, whereas the control group continued with the routine preschool curriculum. Findings indicated that children who experienced the Turkish Shortened Adaptation of the MindKinder Mindfulness Program showed improvements in psychological well-being and social skills, as well as reductions in problem behaviors and negative peer interaction behaviors during play. Accordingly, it can be concluded that mindfulness-based social and emotional learning programs implemented with children contribute positively to their psychological well-being and social development in terms of both skills and behaviors.