Study shows mindfulness apps can reduce kids’ stress

If you’re a fan of using mindfulness apps to stay present, you may want to share your phone with your kiddo (or encourage them to put a mindfulness app on their device). Research found that kids who used the apps during the pandemic had better mental health than those who didn’t.

Researchers from MIT wanted to know if mobile apps for mindfulness would help kids the same way in-school mindfulness training does. (During the pandemic, many kids couldn’t go to school to receive the mindfulness instruction—something many schools already incorporate).

The researchers say that mindfulness apps could reach a larger number of children, especially those not getting mindfulness instruction at school. And because more kids can get the apps, it may have wider-reaching mental health benefits. 

“There is growing and compelling scientific evidence that mindfulness can support mental well-being and promote mental health in diverse children and adults,” John Gabrieli, senior author and professor of brain and cognitive sciences at MIT, said in a statement. His research was published on Oct. 9 in the journal Mindfulness.

Gabrieli studied 279 children between the ages of 8 and 10 who were split into three groups. One group used Inner Explorer’s mindfulness app five days a week for two months. The app includes relaxation exercises, breathing exercises, and other forms of meditation (the company also produces school-based mindfulness programs). The two other groups used an app to listen to audiobooks that weren’t related to mindfulness; one of those two groups had one-on-one virtual meetings with a facilitator, while the other group didn’t.

The researchers compared the kids’ level of mindfulness and measures of mental health before and after the eight-week study. Mental health improved across all three groups; each group increased mindfulness and engaged in helpful behaviors. Kiddos in the mindfulness group showed significantly lower stress levels–and their parents said the kids had fewer negative emotions. The more they practiced, the better the results were.

The perks of mindfulness for kids

Research has previously shown that mindfulness training helps children with academics, behavior and stress reduction. Mindfulness can lower stress in kids more compared to those who don’t get the training. Kids who were more mindful were more emotionally resilient to the negative impacts of the Covid pandemic, Gabrieli’s earlier research showed. 

The takeaway: It’s worth heading to your smartphone’s app store to see which mindfulness apps your kids may like—don’t wait on schools to provide mindfulness training. This way, they’ll have the support they need for better mental wellness right at their fingertips. 

We like the kid-focused meditations from Calm (which partnered with Disney on a collection of Disney Princess-focused meditations for kids) and Headspace (which recently released two collections for kids ages 3 to 12 to help them unwind before bed: Sesame Street’s “Goodnight, World!” podcast can be streamed on the Headspace app and YouTube star and actress Lilly Singh’s animated series “Mindful Adventures of Unicorn Island” is also available to stream exclusively on YouTube). We also love the Charm Words podcast, which is focused on breathwork, mindfulness and affirmations for kids. “There are a lot of great ways to incorporate mindfulness training into schools, but in general, it’s more resource-intensive than having people download an app. So, in terms of pure scalability and cost-effectiveness, apps are useful,” Isaac Treves, an MIT grad student and lead author of both studies. “Another good thing about apps is that the kids can go at their own pace and repeat practices that they like, so there’s more freedom of choice.”