Work

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

Year: 2026

Type: article

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.

Source: BMJ Mental Health

DOI: 10.1136/bmjment-2026-303016