The mindful movement program in primary schools: a single-arm pilot intervention study

Bronwyn M Theroux; Ned Chandler-Mather; Jessica Paynter; Sharon Dawe; Kate E Williams

doi:10.1186/s40359-025-02689-x

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The mindful movement program in primary schools: a single-arm pilot intervention study

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

The mindful movement program in primary schools: a single-arm pilot intervention study

Bronwyn M Theroux, Ned Chandler-Mather, Jessica Paynter, Sharon Dawe and Kate E Williams

BMC Psychology, Vol.13(1), pp.1-16

2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02689-x

PMCID: PMC12044745

PMID: 40312339

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Abstract

cognition

elementary school

early years

executive function

motor skills

intervention

early childhood

Background The early primary school years provide a unique opportunity for improving executive functions on a classroom-wide scale. While mindfulness, music, and movement have each demonstrated effectiveness in enhancing executive functions in early primary classrooms, no previous studies have integrated these modalities into a single program. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary impact of a novel program that combines mindfulness with movement to music: the Mindful Movement Program (MMP). Methods This single-arm within-subjects study evaluated the feasibility of teachers delivering the MMP within the early primary years classroom setting. The program was integrated into the classroom curriculum and delivered across two school terms, to seven primary school classes, with a total of 133 students (mean age 6.61 years; standard deviation 0.90). Results High rates of student recruitment (91%), and both student and teacher retention were obtained (98% and 100% respectively). Fidelity of implementation was moderate for core practices (68%) and video resource use (66%); and acceptability of the intervention high, despite teacher absences due to COVID-19 restrictions. Mixed-effects modelling showed that teacher-reported global executive functioning (b = -2.95, p < .001), externalising (b = -1.06, p < .001), and internalising (b = -0.52, p < .01) behaviour problems significantly reduced from baseline after receiving the intervention. A subset of students (n = 50) who were directly assessed on general motor skill and specific body coordination skills also showed significant improvements (p < .001) with medium to large effects. Conclusions This study demonstrated the feasibility and acceptability of a structured approach to movement and mindfulness developed by an experienced dance teacher, and delivered by teachers within the existing classroom setting. The program showed encouraging findings of improvement in a pre-post assessment. Further research is warranted to establish effectiveness in a controlled study design.

Details

Title: The mindful movement program in primary schools: a single-arm pilot intervention study
Authors: Bronwyn M Theroux (Corresponding Author) - Griffith University
Ned Chandler-Mather - Griffith University
Jessica Paynter - School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Mount Gravatt, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Sharon Dawe - Griffith University
Kate E Williams - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Education and Tertiary Access
Publication details: BMC Psychology, Vol.13(1), pp.1-16
Publisher: BioMed Central Ltd.
Date published: 2025
DOI: 10.1186/s40359-025-02689-x
ISSN: 2050-7283
PMID: 40312339; PMC12044745
Copyright note: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
Data Availability: All datasets used and/or analysed in the present study are available upon request from the lead/corresponding author.
Organisation Unit: School of Education and Tertiary Access
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991125205702621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Psychology, Multidisciplinary