Randye J. Semple and Christopher Willard: The Mindfulness Matters Program for Children and Adolescents: Strategies, Activities, and Techniques for Therapists and Teachers, Guilford Press, New York, NY, 2019, 262 pp

Excerpt

Stressful experiences among US youth are alarmingly common and are associated with a plethora of unfavorable outcomes such as impaired academic functioning (Suldo et al., 2009), executive functioning deficits (Agoston & Rudolph, 2016), higher risk of maladaptive behaviors, and lower life satisfaction (McKnight et al. 2002). Clearly, practices and interventions are needed to promote positivistic skills (e.g., social-emotional competencies, emotional self-regulation) to buffer against the stress faced by the children and adolescents. The scientific literature increasingly supports the utility of mindfulness-based programming (MBP) to buffer against stress by promoting positivistic attributes among children and adolescents, prompting calls for further applied research into this the utility of MBP for youth (Creswell & Lindsay, 2014; Felver et al., 2016; Klingbeil et al. 2017). …