The University of Geneva and Geneva University Hospitals have shown how adolescents born prematurely may experience relief from their behavioral and socio-emotional problems through mindfulness meditation.
The study, posted in Scientific Reports, assessed a sample of young adolescents between the ages of 10 and 14 at the time of recruitment, with a history of pre-term birth.
For a span of eight weeks, the adolescent participants were preoccupied about an hour and a half each week with instructors to perform mindfulness exercises.
“Scientists quickly found that mindfulness improves the regulation of cognitive, social and emotional functions, in other worlds, our brain’s ability to interact with our environment,” a news release of the study reads.
“Indeed, it increases the ability to focus on the present—on thoughts, emotions and physical sensations, with curiosity and non-judgment. Thanks to this practice, adolescents improve their executive functions, i.e. the mental processes that enable us to control our behavior to successfully achieve a goal.”
“As a result, young people find it easier to focus, manage and regulate their behavior and emotions in everyday life,” the authors concluded in their release.
