MindMasters 2: A 3-Month Pilot Study Evaluating Grade 3 Children’s Social and Emotional Skills

Abstract

The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the preliminary effects of a curriculum resource on elementary school children’s social and emotional skills. In total, 98 Grade 3 children were randomly allocated to either a control or experimental group and evaluated before and after a 3-month implementation period. Experimental group showed improved prosocial behaviors (p < .01), concern for others (p = .02), and emotional skills (p < .01) over time, as well as improved relaxation levels (p < .01) after partaking in relaxation activities. Compared with the control group, experimental group’s emotional skills were significantly higher at posttest (p < .01). No significant differences were observed for children’s self-perceptions (p > .05). Results from this study indicate that the curriculum resource may facilitate the development of children’s social and emotional skills. A future definitive randomized-controlled trial should strive for a longer implementation period in response to small effect sizes, taking into account target population, sample size, and persistence of effects over the life span and in different environmental contexts.

Keywords

program evaluation self-regulation coping styles elementary school experimental

Introduction

Mood disorders such as depression and anxiety have become a main topic of interest in health care due to their dire negative impact on an individual’s physical and psychological well-being, as well as the global community (Becker & Kleinman, 2013; Markowitz, 1998; Teesson et al., 2011). In Canada, it is estimated that 15% of children and youth are affected by mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety at any given time (Mood Disorders Society of Canada, 2009), and the prevention of mood disorders is thought to be especially important for children due to their detrimental and persistent effects in early onset (Aebi, Giger, Plattner, Metzke, & Steinhausen, 2014; Morgan, Parker, Alvarez-Jimenez, & Jorm, 2013). The introduction of resilience-based protective factors in childhood, particularly, social and emotional competency skills, may translate to more effective coping mechanisms in any given child’s subsequent years (Goldstein & Brooks, 2012), potentially diminishing the likelihood of long-term psychological concerns.

Specific to Canada, provincial initiatives such as the integration of personal and social competencies as a core feature in British Columbia’s new school curriculum (Government of British Columbia, 2016) and Ontario’s comprehensive mental health and addiction strategy (Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, 2011) have reiterated the importance of enhancing mental health resources in schools. Within the Ontario Curriculum for Grades 1 to 8 currently in effect (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2010), the living skill expectations depicting a need to focus on personal and interpersonal skill development to successfully achieve the expectations of the curriculum further support the notion that teachers need access to evidence-based practices that effectively address social and emotional development. In response, social–emotional learning programs have been at the forefront as potential methods for supporting evidence-informed decision making to improve the mental health of Canadian youth (Evidence Exchange Network for Mental Health and Addictions, 2016).

Universal school-based programs that have focused on promoting social–emotional learning have shown positive outcomes for school populations, with meta-analytic research noting improvements in emotional stability, social behavior, and academic achievement (Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011; Taylor, Oberle, Durlak, & Weissberg, 2017). Although various school-based and community-based interventions that target children’s social and emotional skill development have already been introduced in Canada (i.e., Kids Have Stress Too, Ripple Effects for Kids), there is still a need for rigorously evaluated resources which are freely available, technologically relevant, and bilingual.

MindMasters 2 is a universal, school-based resource recently developed for all children ages from 4 to 9 years, with the aim of improving children’s social, emotional, and coping skills through easy-to-use and interactive activities (Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, 2017). MindMasters 2 separates itself from other resources as it utilizes evidence-informed skills as building blocks to foster social and emotional competencies; is freely available in both English and French (http://www.cheo.on.ca/en/MindMasters2); is accessible through multiple technologies including a downloadable guidebook, a website, and a software application; and links each activity to current provincial curriculum standards in positive living (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2010), providing teachers with easy access to the necessary tools to meet specific curriculum objectives.

MindMasters 2 includes 11 activities that focus on improving children’s coping strategies by fostering social and emotional competencies through three distinct evidence-informed skills: relaxation and stress control, mindfulness, and positive thinking. Within MindMasters 2, relaxation and stress control activities include controlled breathing exercises and progressive muscle relaxation and are designed to help children cope with feelings in a healthy manner and learn to manage stress using different relaxation techniques. Positive thinking activities help children learn how to use positive thinking and imagery, find daily highlights, and build positive relationships. Mindfulness activities help children to focus and be in the moment, and accept their thoughts and feelings without judgment. Together, these three techniques are postulated to improve a child’s social and emotional functioning.

Following the methodology suggested by Campbell and colleagues (2000) for developing, evaluating, and implementing health interventions, multiple semistructured interviews were conducted with teachers to determine the acceptability and efficacy of the resource in classroom settings (Santos, 2018). Potential barriers and suggestions for refinement were also discussed during Phase I of this trial. Parallel to Phase I, the purpose of this Phase II pilot study was to investigate preliminary outcomes of implementing MindMasters 2 in Grade 3 classrooms for a duration of 3 months. Based on the evidence of other school-based social–emotional learning programs, we hypothesized that MindMasters 2 would effectively improve children’s prosocial behaviors in a classroom setting, social attitudes toward others, self-perceptions, emotional skills, and ability to relax after partaking in relaxation activities. It is hoped that the preliminary evidence and methodological lessons learned from this pilot study in combination with the findings from Phase I can inform the development of a Phase III definitive randomized-controlled trial.

Method

Recruitment

Ethical approvals were granted for this study by the research governing bodies of an Ontario district school board, a university, and a tertiary care children’s hospital. School principals from the school board were invited to participate in this study via letter. Within those schools that agreed to be included (n = 10), teacher consent forms were distributed to all Grade 3 classrooms, along with two 30-min teacher information sessions held via teleconferencing. Fourteen Grade 3 classrooms found within the 10 schools were included in this study. The classrooms were randomly assigned to either a control group or experimental group, with an allocation ratio of 1:1. If two classrooms were found within the same school, they were allocated to separate groups to diminish potential school effects on measured outcomes.

Consent and assent forms were sent home with each child found within the 14 classrooms to take part in the assessments of outcome variables. Of those who provided informed consent, a maximum of 10 children per classroom were selected for assessment using a randomization protocol (Schulz, Altman, & Moher, 2010). This restriction was put in place to accommodate teachers’ limited time availability for completing questionnaires. All children in the experimental classrooms were exposed to MindMasters 2 for the duration of the study.

Participants

Demographic information of participants can be found in Table 1. Participants were 98 Grade 3 students, aged between 7 and 9 years (M = 7.99, SD = 0.05 years) from the 14 elementary classrooms found within the Ontario school board. Control and experimental groups consisted of 49 students each. Participation rates were similar for control (91.84%, n = 45) and experimental groups (93.88%, n = 46) during student pretest assessments. Missing data is due to nonattendance at period of assessments. By posttest assessments, 4.44% of students were lost to follow up from the control group (n = 2), and 6.52% of students were lost to follow up from the experimental group (n = 3). Of those lost to follow up, 40% (n = 2) switched school boards, and 60% (n = 3) were not present at period of assessments.

Table 1.

Demographic Data for Control and Experimental Group Children.

Variable	Control group (n = 49)	Experimental group (n = 49)	Group difference
Age in years	8.00 (0.07)	7.98 (0.06)	t(96) = .216, p > .05
Gender (%)
Male	21 (42.9)	23 (46.9)	χ²(1, N = 98) = .17, p > .05
Female	28 (57.1)	26 (53.1)	χ²(1, N = 98) = .17, p > .05

Note. Values given are Ms and SD or frequencies and percentage where appropriate. Independent samples t test was used to compare group age. Pearson’s chi-square test was used to compare gender differences. An α = .95 was adhered for all statistical comparisons.

Procedures

For the implementation of MindMasters 2, a “train-the-trainer” approach was adopted to account for teachers’ limited time. Student Support Partners (SSPs) were provided by the school board to receive training on MindMasters 2 and subsequently introduce the resource to each of the experimental classrooms and facilitate the teachers’ implementation of the program. SSPs are personnel with a bachelor’s degree in education hired by the school board to assist teachers and schools in various capacities, such as helping students build skills in social–emotional and behavioral functioning, help students articulate and identify what they need in the present moment, play a role in building mental health literacy within schools, and implement school-wide and classroom practices that enhance wellness and achievement. SSPs had received a 2-hour training session on implementing MindMasters 2 prior to this study and were given a 1.5-hr booster session before commencing program implementation. Once fully trained, SSPs visited each experimental classroom, where they introduced each of the 11 MindMasters 2 activities to the children and concurrently trained the teachers on proper resource implementation. Thereafter, teachers ran the program activities within their classroom two more times each, exposing children to each activity a total of three times during the 3-month implementation phase. SSPs were available to assist with program implementation at the request of each individual teacher during this implementation phase. To assess program fidelity in a pragmatic way, teachers were asked to self-report how many times each activity was used in the implementation phase by completing a provided log book every time an activity was used.

Before the implementation phase, teachers in the experimental group were given a hardcopy of the program guidebook, access to the free program software application, the link to the program’s online website, and a teacher log book. Control group teachers were not given the resources at this time to prevent any biases during the assessment phase. Teacher-based outcome measurements were provided pre- and posttest in January and April of 2017, respectively. Teachers were given 2 weeks to complete the questionnaires at both time points. Pre- and posttest student assessments consisting of both an interview conducted by the principal investigator and paper-based questionnaires were completed in the same timeframe as teacher measurements. Student questionnaires were completed individually by the student with clarification from the principal investigator if needed.

Teacher Measures

The Prosocial Behaviors of Children–Teacher’s Perceptions (PBC; Dahlberg, Toal, Swahn, & Behrens, 2005) was used to measure children’s prosocial behaviors in a classroom setting as an indicator of social competency. The 19-question measurement consists of subscales in school adjustment, peer preferred behavior, and teacher preferred behavior. A high score in any subscale or the summation of subscale scores indicated a higher amount of prosocial behavior. The PBC has shown good psychometric properties, with an excellent internal consistency reliability score of .93 in a recent sample (Al-Thani & Semmar, 2017). Cronbach’s alpha for this study’s sample was determined to be .96 for both pre- and posttest scores.

The Concern for Others: Teacher Rating Form–Second and Third Grade (CO; Chi, Jastrzab, & Melchior, 2006) measured children’s social attitudes toward others. This short questionnaire assessed children’s willingness to help others, demonstrate patience, and show empathy and respect. A higher score for each question indicated more positive attitudes when interacting with peers. An acceptable internal consistency reliability score of .74 has been previously reported for CO (Chi et al., 2006), while Cronbach’s alpha in this sample was .91 at pretest and .93 at posttest.

Student Measures

The Self-Perception Profile for Children–Subscale 6 (SPP; Harter, 2012) was used to assess children’s self-perceptions. Subscale 6 of this scale measured children’s global self-worth, defined as how much one likes oneself as a person, is happy with the way one is leading one’s life and is generally happy with the way one is as a human being. Those who scored higher demonstrated more positive attitudes toward the self. Harter (2012) explored the measure’s psychometric properties, reporting good internal consistency reliability scores in eight different samples, ranging from .78 to .87. In this sample, Cronbach’s alpha ranged from .66 at pretest to .81 at posttest.

A modified version of the Assessment of Children’s Emotional Skills (ACES; Schultz, Izard, & Bear, 2004) was used to measure children’s abilities to recognize, name, and manage emotions. Vignettes were used by a researcher to describe situations in which specific emotions are elicited by the protagonist. Children were then asked which emotion they thought the protagonist felt. For this study, four simple drawings of faces were presented on sheets of paper after each vignette (happy, sad, angry, and scared). One of the faces expressed the most appropriate emotional response to the situation, whereas the other three acted as foils. After each vignette, the children chose the face they thought best corresponded with the situation, and then named the emotion. After doing so, four different behavioral responses to the situation were presented to the children. Two of the choices were considered appropriate, constructive behaviors (socially competent and passive), whereas two were considered inappropriate behaviors (negative and aggressive).

A total of four different emotions were examined: happiness, sadness, anger, and fear. Originally, ACES interviews would present each child with three items for each emotion being examined, and an additional three items not associated exclusively with one discrete emotion to measure attribution biases (Schultz et al., 2004). For the purposes of time restraints, modifications for this study included the presentation of only two vignettes for each of the examined emotions, as opposed to three. Furthermore, no additional vignettes were presented, eliminating the possibility of measuring attribution biases in this study. Despite these modifications, Cronbach’s alpha remained acceptable at .71 during pretest and .67 during posttest.

A total of eight vignettes were presented to each child at each assessment period. Vignettes used in pretest were different than those used in posttest to eliminate the chance of a learning effect. For each vignette, the correct recognition, naming of an emotion, and behavioral choice awarded the child one point each. For incorrect responses, no points were awarded.

Classroom Measures

To assess children’s response to relaxation activities, the Cat scale was used in experimental classrooms only (Cox & Orlick, 1996). Experimental group teachers were provided with a magnet board containing five different pictures of cats, ranging from 1 = very stressed to 5 = very relaxed. Before participating in a relaxation activity, each child in their respective classroom was given a nonidentifying magnet to place on the board, under the cat he or she most felt like. The summation of everyone’s score indicated by placement of the magnets was used as the prerelaxation classroom score. After the relaxation activity was completed, children were instructed to move their magnet under the cat they most felt like, if it had changed from before. Individual scores were summed again, and the result was used as the postrelaxation score. An increase in the summation of children’s relaxation scores after partaking in the activity indicated a more positive response to the relaxation activity. Summation of the Cat scores were completed by the principal investigator after teachers submitted photographs of the Cat scale before-and-after relaxation activities through confidential emails.

Control and Experimental Conditions

Control group

Teachers in the control group were instructed to continue teaching normally for the duration of the study. In this context, treatment-as-usual did not include other programs targeting social–emotional learning, as other programs had not been trialed in this specific school board at the time of this study. Control group teachers were informed that they could begin using MindMasters 2 after the completion of posttest data collection and subsequently received all resources in May of 2017. At this time, the principal investigator met with each teacher to answer any potential questions. SSPs were also made available to introduce and assist with each activity to the control group classrooms at the conclusion of the study. Due to resource limitations, this was not a wait-list control study design, and no measures were collected once control group teachers began utilizing the resource.

Experimental group

The implementation of MindMasters 2 was carried out over 3 months in the experimental classrooms, at a suggested rate of three activities per week. Teachers observed the SSPs lead each of the 11 activities once at a convenient schedule for them, then began implementing the activities on their own. Experimental group teachers were asked to implement each activity at least three times during the implementation phase and were provided with a sample schedule to consult.

Activities took anywhere between 5 to 15 min to implement and could be used at any time during the day. Some activities were accompanied by an audio or video track. Each activity targeted at least one of the three main areas of focus in MindMasters 2, and all activities were introduced in light of the living skills expectations of the Ontario Curriculum for Grades 1-8: Health and Physical Education (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2010).

Statistical Analyses

A stratified randomized trial with a no treatment control group was conducted. Primary outcomes included student self-reports of emotional regulation and self-perception, and teacher reports of prosocial behaviors and social attitudes. Secondary outcomes included experimental children’s change in self-reported relaxation levels as a response to the acute exposure of MindMasters 2 relaxation activities (i.e., were children more relaxed after partaking in a relaxation activity?).

Descriptive statistics were conducted for each outcome variable at pre- and posttest assessments. Correlation analyses between pretest assessment scores were conducted as justification for multivariate analyses. A two-group (control vs. experimental) repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted for primary outcome analysis. Subsequent 2-by-2 mixed model analyses of variance (ANOVAs) and simple effects analyses investigated origin of significance. MANOVA models grouped by classroom (n = 14) and school (n = 10) were conducted to account for potential between-classroom and between-school differences. A paired samples t test was conducted for secondary outcome analysis. All analyses were done with SPSS (version 24).

Results

Sample Size Calculations

Sample size for this study was dependent on the number of responses attained during the recruitment phase. Power calculations using G*Power 3 (Faul, Erdfelder, Buchner, & Lang, 2009) revealed that at an alpha level of .05 and a sample size of 98, there was an 80% chance of finding significance if the effect size of the intervention was low to moderate (.34; Cohen, 1960). This held true for a multivariate, repeated measures analysis including 2 groups (control vs. experimental) across four levels of measurements (PBC, CO, SPP, and ACES).

Descriptive Statistics

Means and standard deviations were calculated for each outcome variable at both pre- and posttest assessments (Table 2). For this study, skewness and kurtosis values within the range of −2 and +2 were used as assumption of normality (Hoyle, 1995; Kim, 2013). Kurtoic values in both control and experimental group’s SPP scores were 3.20 and 2.65, respectively. Screening for outliers via boxplots was conducted, and the subsequent removal of one extreme outlier from each data set resulted in normal distributions for both cases.

Table 2.

Ms and SDs for Primary Outcome Measures at Pre- and Posttest Assessments.

Group	PBC		CO		SPP		ACES
Group	Pre	Post	Pre	Post	Pre	Post	Pre	Post
Control	75.51 (16.20)	75.90 (16.75)	12.00 (3.51)	11.82 (3.88)	20.62 (2.96)	21.53 (2.25)	17.51 (3.22)	18.12 (3.01)
n	49	49	49	49	45	40	45	43
Experimental	69.71 (13.73)	73.47 (12.89)	11.57 (3.13)	12.29 (2.94)	21.07 (2.93)	20.70 (2.96)	17.54 (2.84)	20.19 (2.43)
n	49	49	49	49	45	43	46	43

Note. PBC = Prosocial Behaviors of Children; CO = Concern for Others; SPP = Self-Perception Profile; ACES = Assessment of Children’s Emotional Skills.

Frequency of resource implementation was assessed via self-reported log books. On average, each of the 11 activities were practiced 3.06 times (SD = 0.25) during the implementation phase. Five out of six (83%) teachers in the experimental group reported being able to introduce all activities three times each to their respective classrooms. Reported reasons for not implementing an activity a total of three times included environmental barriers (i.e., snow days) and scheduling conflicts with SSPs.

Correlation analyses of pretest assessment scores demonstrated an association between PBC and CO (r = .76, p < .01), PBC and ACES (r = .28, p < .01), and CO and ACES (r = .26, p < .05), providing justification for multivariate analyses. SPP scores were not correlated to other outcomes (p > .05) but were still included in the multivariate model for simplification purposes.

Primary Outcome Analyses

Using Wilks’s Lambda, a repeated measures MANOVA revealed a three-way interaction effect between tests, time, and group, F(3, 73) = 3.254, p = .026, η² = .118). Decomposition of this interaction was done via 2-by-2 mixed model ANOVAs on each outcome variable. Significant two-way interactions between time and group were revealed in PBC, F(1, 96) = 6.16, p = .015, $η_{p}^{2} = . 06$ ; CO, F(1, 96) = 4.42, p = .038, $η_{p}^{2} = . 044$ ; and ACES, F(1, 79) = 14.11, p < .01, $η_{p}^{2} = . 152$ , scores. No significant group effects, F(1, 75) = .728, p = .396, $η_{p}^{2} = . 01$ , or time effects, F(1, 75) = .001, p = .97, $η_{p}^{2} = . 01$ , were found for SPP scores. Further decomposition of the two-way interactions was done via simple effects analyses. Pairwise comparisons revealed significant improvements in PBC (p < .01), CO (p = .02), and ACES (p < .01) scores at posttest for the experimental group only. When compared with the control group, experimental group ACES scores were significantly greater at posttest (p < .01; Figure 1).

Figure 1.

Ms and SDs for control and experimental groups at pre- and posttest assessments for (a) Prosocial Behaviors of Children, (b) Concern for Others, (c) Self-Perception Profile, and (d) Assessment of Children’s Emotional Skills.

Nested Data Analyses

When grouped by classroom (n = 14), main effect of group on outcome variables was nonsignificant, F(52, 234) = 1.37, p > .05, indicating that between-classroom differences did not significantly affect main results. Similarly, when grouped by school (n = 10), no statistically significant main effect was observed, F(36, 242) = 1.17, p > .05.

Secondary Outcome Analyses

Each of the seven classrooms in the experimental group provided two pairs of before-and-after photographs of the Cat scale when using a relaxation activity, for a total of 14 pairs of photographs, or 28 photographs in total. Classroom prerelaxation scores averaged 59.14 (SD = 9.96), whereas postrelaxation scores averaged 71.7 (SD = 13.33). Comparisons of before-and-after scores by means of a paired samples t test revealed a significant increase in relaxation scores after a relaxation activity was used in class, t(13) = −5.713, p < .01.

Discussion

Preliminary results based on this pilot study indicate that over 3 months, children’s prosocial behaviors in a classroom setting, social attitudes toward others, and emotional skills may have improved when exposed to MindMasters 2. Furthermore, compared with those who were not exposed to the program, children’s abilities to recognize, name, and manage emotions were statistically higher at posttest. These findings reflect some previous research that has suggested certain social–emotional learning programs to be efficacious in improving emotional stability and social behaviors (Durlak et al., 2011; Taylor et al., 2017). However, effect sizes for all three of these measures were below Cohen’s (1960) small effect size threshold (d = .2). Such small effect sizes may be indicative of other factors that may play an influential role in the development of effective social and emotional skills, such as classroom-related and school-related mechanisms (i.e., teaching style, socioeconomic status, geographical location, etc.), and previous research has supported the idea of classroom-level mechanisms as mediators of program impact (McCormick, Cappella, O’Connor, & McClowry, 2015). Although the main effects of classroom-based and school-based differences on outcome measures were not statistically significant in this pilot, mechanisms at these grouping levels were not controlled for and thus cannot be ruled out. Future evaluations of MindMasters 2 must take these mechanisms into consideration when analyzing data, so that they are controlled for. More rigorous analyses such as hierarchical linear modeling (Raudenbush & Bryk, 2002) may be warranted for more conclusive results.

The small effect sizes observed may also be partly explained by a relatively short implementation period of 3 months. It is believed that endured exposure may translate to further improvements in children’s social and emotional skills. This notion is supported by previous research, where interventions similar to MindMasters 2 show improvements during prolonged implementation periods and follow-up assessments (i.e., Elias, Gara, Schuyler, Branden-Muller, & Sayette, 1991; Jones, Brown, & Aber, 2011; Muennig, Schweinhart, Montie, & Neidell, 2009). Therefore, future evaluations of MindMasters 2 should focus on long-term effects by use of a longitudinal study design. Follow-up assessment periods are also recommended to test whether initial findings remain persistent over time.

No group effects were found for children’s prosocial behaviors in a classroom setting or their social attitudes toward their peers. This lack of effect may be explained by a relatively small sample size. Evaluations on other prevention programs tend to have much larger sample sizes, effectively increasing the study’s power (Haas, 2012). As a consequence, an increase in sample size allows for easier detection of group effects if the program is effective in improving its targeted outcomes. Nonetheless, it may also be that MindMasters 2 does not significantly affect children’s prosocial behaviors or social attitudes as the program particularly focuses on building positive relationships with peers and teachers. Consequently, future endeavors at evaluating MindMasters 2 should take this into consideration by using measures more sensitive to the specific objectives of the resource.

Contrary to our hypothesis, the program seemed to have no impact on children’s self-perception. These results may be due to a few reasons. First, pretest self-perception scores were high for both control and experimental groups, meaning children were generally happy with themselves to begin with. Out of a possible maximum score of 24 points, both groups’ scores averaged above 85%, potentially creating a ceiling effect. Perhaps differences in self-perception would become apparent in populations at high risk for low self-esteem and similar issues and should therefore be considered for future studies’ target populations. It is important to note that as a consequence, the utility of the resource would shift from a universal school-based program to a more targeted population approach, and this shift should be acknowledged when MindMasters 2 is used in such a way. Second, self-perception scores were not correlated to any of the other outcome variables at either pretest or posttest assessment periods. As such, it may be that MindMasters 2 does not succeed in improving children’s perceptions of themselves. Further investigations are required to retest this outcome variable to determine its relevance to the resource.

The relaxation activities in MindMasters 2 appeared to be effective; children reported a significant improvement in relaxation levels immediately after taking part in these activities. This was an expected outcome as activities that focus on teaching controlled breathing and progressive muscle relaxation have shown to be effective in other prevention programs (i.e., Kjellgren, Bood, Axelsson, Norlander, & Saatcioglu, 2007; Schröder, Heider, Zaby, & Göllner, 2013). However, observed results should be interpreted with caution given the absence of the Cat scale’s reliability and ecological validity. Utilizing a relaxation measure that has been previously validated may help establish MindMasters 2’s impact on relaxation skills more concretely. Furthermore, it remains to be determined whether the implementation of these relaxation activities in a classroom setting fosters an increased likelihood of children learning to relax in other environmental contexts, without the presence of the activities themselves. Further research is needed to establish the transferability of children’s relaxation abilities learned from MindMasters 2.

Implications

Overall, the results from this pilot study provide a preliminary evidence base for the use of MindMasters 2 in schools, enabling teachers to effectively teach the positive living expectations found in the provincial curriculum. As a consequence, children may benefit socially and emotionally from the introduction of MindMasters 2 throughout their developmental trajectories. This study also adds to the existing literature on the effectiveness of social and emotional learning resources in Canada. As a next step, this preliminary evidence in combination with the methodological lessons learned from this study can inform the development and implementation of a definitive randomized-controlled trial for a more rigorous evaluation, in accordance with the methodology proposed by Campbell and colleagues (2000). Should results be replicated, municipal and provincial governing bodies and school administrators may consider using MindMasters 2 as a tool when attempting to achieve the positive living expectations of the Ontario curriculum.

Limitations

Various limitations were present in this study which should be noted. To begin, fidelity measures and outcome data from this evaluation consisted of self-report measures, which can create an inherent self-enhancing bias. Measure of fidelity consisted of only reported frequency of resource implementation and did not consider the integrity with which each activity was used. Variability in implementation integrity could have been further compromised as teachers were not directly trained on resource implementation. Second, the findings of this study cannot be generalized to other youth populations due to the small sample size, limited geographical location, restricted age category, and short implementation period. Furthermore, classroom-level and school-level mechanisms that could potentially influence social and emotional development were not controlled for. Future research evaluating MindMasters 2 in a more rigorous way should attempt to rectify these limitations by providing direct training to teachers implementing the resource and using more comprehensive and objective means of measuring program fidelity and outcome data in a pragmatic setting. Increasing and diversifying sample size, implementing the resource for a longer period of time and with multiple follow-up assessments, and controlling for other factors that could influence the development trajectory of social and emotional skills should also be considered in future evaluations.

Conclusion

Results from this study indicate that MindMasters 2 may play a positive role in improving children’s social and emotional skills, as well as their ability to calm themselves and relax. MindMasters 2 is a promising resource that could have a positive impact on children’s mental health and resilience. Given the preliminary nature and limitations of the present study, further research in the form of a definitive randomized-controlled trial is needed to certify MindMasters 2’s efficacy and long-term impacts. Future studies should aim for longer implementation periods with follow-up assessments while controlling for potentially confounding outcomes and should take into account target population, sample size, and persistence of effects over the life span and in other environmental contexts.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Author Biographies

Alexandre Santos completed his Master’s Degree at the University of Ottawa in affiliation with the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. He is now pursuing a PhD degree at the University of British Columbia – Okanagan Campus.

Corrine Langill is the manager of Health Promotion and Injury Prevention at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and project lead on MindMasters 2.

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