Effectiveness of mindfulness based program on pre-adolescents

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of mindfulness based program on mindfulness and psychological well-being levels of pre adolesecents. Pre adolescents between the ages of 10-14 attending secondary school in Çankaya district of Ankara province participated in the study. The research which was designed according to the exploratory sequential design from the mixed method designs, consisted of three stages. With the participation of 333 students attending secondary school, the relationship between mindfulness and psychological well-being levels was examined in the first stage. It has been investigated whether mindfulness and psychological well-being levels are different according to gender and class, and whether mindfulness levels predict psychological well-being levels. In the second stage, the effect of the Eline Snel Mindfulness Program for Children and Adolescents on the level of mindfulness and psychological well-being was tested in the experimental design with pre-test post-test control group. A total of 28 fifth grade students participated in the experimental and control groups. A follow-up study was conducted three months after the program was implemented. In the third stage, interviews were conducted with the 14 adolescents and their families who participated in the research. In the first two stages, Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM), Stirling Emotional and Psychological Well-being Scale for Children, and the personal information form were used. In the third stage, data were collected with a semi-structured interview form. In the study, it was found that there was a positive relationship between mindfulness and psychological well-being, mindfulness predicted psychological well-being, men's mindfulness and psychological well-being scores were higher than women's, and there was no significant difference in terms of class variable. The post-test scores of the experimental group increased compared to the pre-test scores. The post-test scores of the experimental group were higher than the post-test scores of the control group. As a result of the follow-up study, it was seen that the permanence continued in the experimental group. The findings of the qualitative analysis supported the quantitative results. The results were discussed within the framework of the literature and suggestions were made.