A systematic review identified 24 impact evaluation studies on school-based meditation programs. A small to moderate positive outcome was reported, indicating that treated cases had greater benefits in the areas of cognitive development, stress reduction, and increased resilience [1].
A systematic review by the Campbell Collaboration examined the effects of MBIs in school settings on cognitive, behavioral, social and emotional, and academic performance outcomes among elementary and middle school students. The review included in its meta-analysis a total of 35 randomized or quasi-experimental studies, which evaluated interventions delivered in a group format, albeit variable in duration (4-28 weeks), number of sessions (6-125 sessions), and meeting frequency (once every 15 days to 5 times per week). This systematic review found that the interventions had a small but statistically significant positive effect on the cognitive (e.g., executive functions, memory, cognition, attention) and social and emotional (e.g., anxiety, stress, motivation, social skills, self-esteem, emotional regulation, determination, internalizing behaviors) outcomes analyzed. However, it also found that they did not have a statistically significant effect on behavioral (e.g., disciplinary sanctions, aggressiveness, and other externalizing behaviors, time on task, compliance, attendance) and academic (e.g., standardized achievement tests, content mastery measures, reading, grades) outcomes considered in the analysis [2].