Citation

Lu R, Zhou Y, Wu Q, Peng X, Dong J, Zhu Z, Xu W. Child Care Health Dev. 2019; 45(3): 371-379.

Affiliation

School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/cch.12650

PMID

30754074

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The population of left-behind children is growing rapidly in China in recent years. Without parents' company, left-behind children may develop severe emotional problems, which can trigger extreme behaviors such as self-harm and suicide. Previous literature suggests that mindfulness-based intervention could effectively alleviate a variety of sufferings such as anxiety and suicide ideation. The current study sought to examine the effectiveness of mindfulness-based intervention on suicide ideation among left-behind children in China.

METHODS: This study investigated the effects of an 8-week mindfulness training program on suicide ideation of left-behind children in China. Forty-nine left-behind children completed a pre-test and post-test on mindfulness level, social anxiety, self-esteem, and suicide ideation, with 21 in the mindfulness training group and 28 in the waitlist control group.

RESULTS: Adjusting for pre-test differences analyses of covariance found that, compared to waitlist control group, the mindfulness training group showed a significant improvement in mindfulness level, and decreases in social anxiety and suicide ideation after the 8-week mindfulness training.

CONCLUSION: The findings from this study support that the use of mindfulness-based intervention can effectively reduce the suicide ideation and social anxiety of left-behind children in China.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

left-behind children; mindfulness; randomized controlled trial; social anxiety; suicide ideation