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Annotated Bibliography on Mindfulness Group Psychotherapy
Amanda Littlefield
School of Behavioral Sciences, Liberty University
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Annotated Bibliography on Mindfulness in Group Psychotherapy
Bender, S. L., Lawson, T., & Palacios, A. M. (2023, March). Mindfulness measures for children and
adolescents: A s ystematic review. Contemporary School Psychology.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-022-00433-5
Bender et al. (2023) explored mindfulness for youth developing a greater understanding of
constructs of mindfulness. Constructs that were included when measuring mindfulness were
attention, awareness, and assessment of one’s experiences (Bender et al., 2023). This study is
important for mental health professionals and leaders when designing a plan and program to
integrate into schools. Bender et al. (2023) found that adolescents reported measuring
mindfulness with multiple constructs rather than a single construct. This study strived to inform
mental health professionals a better understanding of constructs of mindfulness to better
support the adolescents they are working with (Bender et al., 2023).
Focusing on the constructs of mindfulness and how they contribute to positive outcomes is
important for my psychotherapy group so that I can effectively teach mindfulness to students.
Providing evidence-based material to students will solidify why it is important to learn these
constructs and mindfulness for healing. This study also helps me to understand the constructs
that will be most beneficial for students so that students are engaged in the activities and not
bored.
Felver, J. C., Cary, E. L., Helminen, E. C., Schutt, M. K. A., Gould, L. F., Greenberg, M. T., Roeser, R.
W., Baelen, R. N., & Schussler, D. L. (2023, February). Identifying core program components of
mindfulness-based programming for youth: Delphi approach consensus outcomes. Mindfulness,
14(2), 279–292. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-02015-1
Felver et al. (2023) explored the core components for mindfulness-based programs that can
encourage future research, development of programs, and evaluation. They were able to
identify nine components using the Delphi approach including, acceptance, focus, self-
awareness, skillful responding, decentering, and somatic awareness. The Delphi approach
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encourages free expression of ideas and anonymity between participants (Felver et al., 2023).
Along with the nine core components of the program, 22 potential components were also
identified (Felver et al., 2023).
This source contributes to my understanding of group psychotherapy in that it provides me with
information on how mindfulness can be beneficial for group psychotherapy. Specifically, how
these core components will help me create an effective mindfulness-based program to better
support youth. This source will be most beneficial for the planning part of my group sessions.
With this information, I can appropriately design a group psychotherapy session that will not
only be supported by research but will also be effective is informing the necessary skills for
youth to be successful.
Kalmar, J., Baumann, I., Gruber, E., Vonderlin, E., Bents, H., Neubauer, A. B., Heidenreich, T., & Mander,
J. (2022 December). The impact of session-introducing mindfulness and relaxation interventions
in individual psychotherapy for children and adolescents: a randomized controlled trial (MARS-
CA). Trials, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-022-06212-0
The purpose of this study was to explore if mindfulness interventions in individual therapy
improved psychopathological symptoms and therapeutic alliance (Kalmer et al., 2022).
Specifically, Kalmer et al. (2022) investigated and compared mindfulness interventions and
relaxation interventions to no intervention at the beginning of sessions to see if there was a
reduction in symptoms and an increase in therapeutic alliance. Exploring the effects of
mindfulness on an individual level rather than in a group was a key component of this study as
Kalmer et al. (2022) hypothesized that adolescents who are practicing mindfulness in a group
setting will improve on psychopathological symptoms, therapeutic alliance, and also the
relationship between those symptoms and therapeutic alliance.
This study is beneficial for my psychotherapy group plan as it provides me with information
regarding whether I should plan each session with a mindfulness intervention at the beginning
of the session or plan it for a different time in the group plan. According to this study, it would
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be effective to begin each session with a mindfulness intervention to prepare students for the
session. It is also beneficial to know if students succeed better in group sessions or individual
session with mindfulness interventions. Understanding that some students may succeed more
with mindfulness interventions during individual sessions is important for understanding how
they may react during the mindfulness time.
Reangsing, C., Punsuwun, S., & Schneider, J. K. (2020 November). Effects of mindfulness interventions on
depressive symptoms in adolescents: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Nursing
Studies, 115, 103848. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2020.103848
Reangsing et al. (2020) examined mindfulness interventions applied to adolescents with
depression. Reviewing several studies, Reangsing et al. (2020) analyzed the data to determine if
mindfulness reduced symptoms of depression in adolescents. Some factors were found to sway
the effectivess of the mindfulness intervention, such as school-based mindfulness interventions
were found to be the most effective (Reangsing et al., 2020). This analysis concluded that using
a mindfulness program was an effective alternative for increasing adolescent mental health
(Reangsing et al., 2020).
With supported evidence from this article, I can effectively use mindfulness as a key
intervention for adolescent mental health improvement. Using this study for support to back my
plan to use mindfulness as an intervention will be key to gain support from participants and
parents to participate in the group. This study can also provide information on what
mindfulness techniques to incorporate into my group plan to better support participants with
mental health, executive functioning, and social skills.
Saarinen, A., Hintsanen, M., Vahlberg, T., Hankonen, N., & Volanen, S. (2021 December, 17).
Schoolbased mindfulness intervention for depressive symptoms in adolescence: For whom is it
most effective? Journal of Adolescence, 94(2), 118–132. https://doi.org/10.1002/jad.12011
Saarinen et al. (2021) explored school-based mindfulness interventions to find if they can
reduce depressive symptoms in adolescents. It was found that a mindfulness intervention was
effective in reducing depressive symptoms in some groups of adolescents (Saarinen et al.,
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2021). This study specifically wanted to find who mindfulness is beneficial for, understanding
that a mindfulness intervention may not be effective for some (Saarinen et al., 2021). Executive
functioning, rumination, and coping strategies were the traits explored by Saarinen et al. (2021)
finding that, those with low executive functioning, high rumination, and high coping strategies
were most effected by the mindfulness intervention.
With evidence from this study it is important to note for my group plan that although
mindfulness is successful in reducing depressive symptoms, the effectiveness will depend on
each individual adolescent as personalities, socioeconomic status, executive functioning level,
gender, and other individual characteristics differ from individual to individual. Conducting a
questionnaire at the start of the group to learn more about the participants and they personal
characteristics will allow me to better prepare group sessions that will best support them and
be effective. Tailoring my psychotherapy group plan to the needs of the students will be most
effective.
Scafuto, F., Quinto, R. M., Ghiroldi, S., Montecucco, N. F., Presaghi, F., Iani, L., & De Vincenzo, F. (2024
May). The mediation role of emotion regulation strategies on the relationship between
mindfulness effects, psychological well-being and distress among youths: findings from a
randomized controlled trial. Current Psychology, 43(29), 24295–24307.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-06081-7
The objectives for this study were to examine the mediation role of emotion regulation and
expressive suppression on the relationship between a mindfulness intervention in school and
adolescent mental health (Scafuto et al., 2024). Some key points in this study by Scafuto et al.
(2024) found that that emotion regulation increased psychological well-being. Identifying that
emotional regulation or cognitive reappraisal is key when linking mindfulness to psychological
expressive suppression but not psychological distress. Expressive suppression had no effect on
psychological distress or well-being (Scafuto et al., 2024).
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This study can be used in my psychotherapy group plan because it provides me with information
on teaching emotional regulation and emotional suppression. This study provides evidential
support that I can provide to students and parents on how my group plan can be effective in
helping youth with the psychological well-being. It will be beneficial for adolescents as it
provides more knowledge to their emotional, cognitive, and social challenges that they may
encounter during this period of development. This study can help me provide appropriate
treatment that will be effective in supporting youth.
Wong, S. Y. S., Chan, S. K. C., Yip, B. H. K., Wang, W., Lo, H. H. M., Zhang, D., & Bögels, S. M.
(2023 October, 23). The effects of mindfulness for youth (MYmind) versus group cognitive
behavioral therapy in improving attention and reducing behavioral problems among children
with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and their parents: A randomized controlled trial.
Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 92(6), 379–390. https://doi.org/10.1159/000534962 The
purpose of this study by Wong et al. (2023) was to explore the gap in youth diagnosed with
attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study included parents to participate in a
mindfulness intervention and also psychoeducation classes (Wong et al., 2023). Mindfulness
and CBT were found to significantly improve youth’s ADHD, behavior, executive functions,
mindfulness, and well-being (Wong et al., 2023). However, there was no difference in comparing
the two types of interventions, both were effective within a group setting. This study provides
evidence that mindfulness is not always the better option and can be used with other
interventions as well (Wong et al., 2023).
This study provides insight for my group plan that although mindfulness is important and
evidentially improves adolescent well-being, adding other interventions to the mindfulness
group is a possibility and also beneficial. This study also provides information to refer to with
students with ADHD that may be in my group sessions due to behavior. Mindfulness does
improve symptoms of ADHD and behavior according to this study (Wong et al., 2023) and it is
important to recognize that some participants may have ADHD and need the extra support. This
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study also provides evidence that mindfulness intervention can also be beneficial to parents as
well (Wong et al., 2023).
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