Idealized body images less hurtful to females after brief meditation
In recent years, there has been a notable increase in depression and anxiety among adolescents and young adults, especially women. Research indicates that social media exposure to body standards can diminish women’s body satisfaction and self-esteem. Mindfulness is one possible solution to counteract these negative effects. Hooper et al. studied 162 women, exposing them to idealized Instagram photos followed by either a 10-minute guided meditation or a podcast on Brazilian jujitsu.
Self-report measures assessing mood, self-esteem, and body appreciation revealed that images worsened these measures. However, the group that underwent meditation displayed improved mood, self-esteem, and body appreciation after listening to the audio. This suggests that even a short meditation session can provide some relief from the negative impact of social media.
References:
Hooper, R., Guest, E., Ramsey-Wade, C., & Slater, A. (2024). A brief mindfulness meditation can ameliorate the effects of exposure to idealised social media images on self-esteem, mood, and body appreciation in young women: An online randomised controlled experiment. Body Image.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2024.101702
https://goamra.org/news/13345705
Mindfulness for Preadolescent Children: A Comprehensive Review
In the past decade, mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have gained traction for improving children’s social and emotional learning (SEL) outcomes. Earlier reviews did not consider age as a factor, particularly for preadolescent children. This age group is undergoing rapid cognitive development and is vulnerable to mental health issues, making it an ideal time for mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs). Kander et al., aiming to investigate the effects of MBIs for non-clinical preadolescent children ages 6-12, conducted a meta-analysis to understand variables underlying MBI effectiveness.
The effectiveness of MBIs was supported, displaying improvements in attention, emotion and behaviour regulation, positive emotions, and social competence. Interestingly, higher-quality studies displayed lower treatment outcomes, but were still effective. Smaller effects were shown in older preadolescents.
References:
Kander, T. N., Lawrence, D., Fox, A., Houghton, S., & Becerra, R. (2024). Mindfulness-based interventions for Preadolescent Children: A comprehensive meta-analysis. Journal of School Psychology, 102, 101261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2023.101261
