Longer term impact of universal school-based mindfulness training compared with normal school provision on adolescent mental health and well-being, teacher mental health and school climate: results from the 2-year follow-up in the MYRIAD cluster randomised controlled trial
15 affiliations
- 1Department of Health and Community Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, National Institute for Health and Care Research Applied Research Collaboration South West, Exeter, UK
- 2Psychiatry Department, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- 3Experimental Psychology Department, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- 4Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- 5UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, London, UK
- 6Health Service and Population Research Department, King’s College London, London, UK
- 7MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, UK
- 8Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, UK
- 9Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- 10Oxford Centre for Emerging Minds Research, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- 11Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
- 12Teaching, Research and Innovation Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Deu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain
- 13Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Heatlh (CIBER Epidemiology and Public Health - CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
- 14Offices of Clinical Research and the Provost, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
- 15Population, Policy and Practice Research Programme, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK
Abstract
Background: The MY Resilience In ADolescence randomised controlled trial showed no superiority of universal school-based mindfulness training (SBMT) over social-emotional teaching as usual (TAU) regarding adolescents’ mental health and limited effects on teachers’ mental health and school climate at 1 year.
Objective: Explore 2-year impact of SBMT versus TAU.
Methods: 85 UK schools (cohort 1: 975 pupils, 104 teachers; cohort 2: 7401 pupils, 575 teachers) randomised 1:1 to continue TAU (43 schools; 4232 pupils) or include SBMT (42 schools; 4144 pupils). The cohorts were analysed separately. Key pupil outcomes were risk for depression, social-emotional-behavioural functioning and well-being (Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS)). Teacher outcomes were burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educator Survey (MBI-ES)), self-efficacy, mindfulness, mindfulness in teaching (Mindfulness in Teaching Scale), stress (Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)), depression, anxiety and school climate.
Analyses used mixed-effects regression, allowing for correlation between observations from the same school and from the same class (pupil outcomes).
Findings: SBMT was not superior to TAU in reducing pupil risk for depression (cohort 1: p=0.51; cohort 2: p=0.47) or social-emotional-behavioural functioning (cohort 1: p values ranged from 0.20 to 0.99; cohort 2: p values from 0.09 to 0.97). SBMT enhanced only cohort 2 pupils’ well-being: adjusted mean difference 1.0 (95% CI 0.2 to 1.8, p=0.02, WEMWBS).
SBMT did not impact cohort 1 teachers’ well-being (MBI-ES: exhaustion, p=0.19; depersonalisation, p=0.78; personal accomplishment, p=0.35), stress (PSS, p=0.68) or school climate (leadership and involvement, p=0.31; staff attitudes, p=0.09; respectful climate, p=0.87) but improved cohort 2 teachers’ well-being (personal accomplishment: −0.2, 95% CI −0.3 to −0.001, p=0.049), stress (−1.6, 95% CI −3.0 to −0.3, p=0.02) and school climate (leadership and involvement: 0.2, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.3, p=0.03; staff attitudes: 0.2, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.4, p=0.02; respectful climate: 0.2, 95% CI 0.1 to 0.4, p=0.001).
Conclusions: Longer term outcomes broadly replicated 1-year findings, with little advantage of SBMT over TAU for pupils but some benefits for teacher-reported well-being and school climate persisting over time.
Clinical implications: While social-emotional teaching in schools can be effective, with attention to wider context and individual differences, SBMT as delivered in this trial is not indicated for 11–14 year-olds. Small negative effects at 1 year washed out at year 2, and benefits for teachers largely persisted.
Trial registration number: ISRCTN86619085.
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BibTeX
@article{jones2026longer,
title = {{Longer term impact of universal school-based mindfulness training compared with normal school provision on adolescent mental health and well-being, teacher mental health and school climate: results from the 2-year follow-up in the MYRIAD cluster randomised controlled trial}},
author = {Benjamin Jones and Susan Ball and Louise Aukland and Ariane Beckley and Sarah-Jayne Blakemore and Sarah Byford and Tríona Casey and Catherine Crane and Tim Dalgleish and Nicola Dalrymple and Darren Dunning and Eleanor-Rose Farley and Tamsin Ford and Poushali Ganguli and Mark T Greenberg and Maria Kempnich and Liz Lord and Emma Medlicott and Jesus Montero-Marin and Elizabeth Nuthall and Lucy Palmer and Alice Phillips and Lucy Radley and Anam Raja and Laura Taylor and Alice Tickell and Obioha C Ukoumunne and Russell M Viner and Willem Kuyken and Saz Ahmed},
journal = {BMJ Mental Health},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1136/bmjment-2026-303016},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjment-2026-303016},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Longer term impact of universal school-based mindfulness training compared with normal school provision on adolescent mental health and well-being, teacher mental health and school climate: results from the 2-year follow-up in the MYRIAD cluster randomised controlled trial
AU - Benjamin Jones
AU - Susan Ball
AU - Louise Aukland
AU - Ariane Beckley
AU - Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
AU - Sarah Byford
AU - Tríona Casey
AU - Catherine Crane
AU - Tim Dalgleish
AU - Nicola Dalrymple
AU - Darren Dunning
AU - Eleanor-Rose Farley
AU - Tamsin Ford
AU - Poushali Ganguli
AU - Mark T Greenberg
AU - Maria Kempnich
AU - Liz Lord
AU - Emma Medlicott
AU - Jesus Montero-Marin
AU - Elizabeth Nuthall
AU - Lucy Palmer
AU - Alice Phillips
AU - Lucy Radley
AU - Anam Raja
AU - Laura Taylor
AU - Alice Tickell
AU - Obioha C Ukoumunne
AU - Russell M Viner
AU - Willem Kuyken
AU - Saz Ahmed
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/02
JO - BMJ Mental Health
DO - 10.1136/bmjment-2026-303016
UR - https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjment-2026-303016
AB - Background: The MY Resilience In ADolescence randomised controlled trial showed no superiority of universal school-based mindfulness training (SBMT) over social-emotional teaching as usual (TAU) regarding adolescents’ mental health and limited effects on teachers’ mental health and school climate at 1 year. Objective: Explore 2-year impact of SBMT versus TAU. Methods: 85 UK schools (cohort 1: 975 pupils, 104 teachers; cohort 2: 7401 pupils, 575 teachers) randomised 1:1 to continue TAU (43 schools; 4232 pupils) or include SBMT (42 schools; 4144 pupils). The cohorts were analysed separately. Key pupil outcomes were risk for depression, social-emotional-behavioural functioning and well-being (Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS)). Teacher outcomes were burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educator Survey (MBI-ES)), self-efficacy, mindfulness, mindfulness in teaching (Mindfulness in Teaching Scale), stress (Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)), depression, anxiety and school climate. Analyses used mixed-effects regression, allowing for correlation between observations from the same school and from the same class (pupil outcomes). Findings: SBMT was not superior to TAU in reducing pupil risk for depression (cohort 1: p=0.51; cohort 2: p=0.47) or social-emotional-behavioural functioning (cohort 1: p values ranged from 0.20 to 0.99; cohort 2: p values from 0.09 to 0.97). SBMT enhanced only cohort 2 pupils’ well-being: adjusted mean difference 1.0 (95% CI 0.2 to 1.8, p=0.02, WEMWBS). SBMT did not impact cohort 1 teachers’ well-being (MBI-ES: exhaustion, p=0.19; depersonalisation, p=0.78; personal accomplishment, p=0.35), stress (PSS, p=0.68) or school climate (leadership and involvement, p=0.31; staff attitudes, p=0.09; respectful climate, p=0.87) but improved cohort 2 teachers’ well-being (personal accomplishment: −0.2, 95% CI −0.3 to −0.001, p=0.049), stress (−1.6, 95% CI −3.0 to −0.3, p=0.02) and school climate (leadership and involvement: 0.2, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.3, p=0.03; staff attitudes: 0.2, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.4, p=0.02; respectful climate: 0.2, 95% CI 0.1 to 0.4, p=0.001). Conclusions: Longer term outcomes broadly replicated 1-year findings, with little advantage of SBMT over TAU for pupils but some benefits for teacher-reported well-being and school climate persisting over time. Clinical implications: While social-emotional teaching in schools can be effective, with attention to wider context and individual differences, SBMT as delivered in this trial is not indicated for 11–14 year-olds. Small negative effects at 1 year washed out at year 2, and benefits for teachers largely persisted. Trial registration number: ISRCTN86619085.
SN - 2755-9734
ER -