Crowley et al. (2018) study worked with adolescents and focused on using group
mindfulness for adolescent anxiety. The in-school setting of this study was completed after-school using a program called Group Mindfulness Therapy (GMT). GMT was conducting over 10-weeks with participants meeting for 60 minutes weekly in a classroom after school. The participants were collected by having parents evaluate anxiety from an online assessment called Screen for Child Anxiety Disorders (SCARED) and ended up having twelve 6th and 7th graders take part.
Focusing on both cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBT) and mindfulness-based approaches (MBA), Crowley et al. (2018) study would be considered a psychotherapy group targeting youth with anxiety at school. About 630 households were informed of this open trial study and while thirty-five completed the screening only sixteen hit the clinical cutoff and eleven participated in the study overall. This was a closed group with participants in the study having to complete the SCARED and also hit the clinical cutoff score. Each week the participants would sit in chairs in a circle and learn and practice mindfulness skills focused on managing anxiety and stress in a structured format. In sessions, clients focused on the ‘here and now’ through present moment awareness by implementing mindful breathing, walking, and feeling and were encouraged to practice these skills independently. Another focus of sessions was a loving-kindness practice which prompted participants to think kindly of themselves and increase emotional awareness, self-acceptance, and compassion.
The goal of the study was to see the GMT program significantly reduce anxiety and stress in adolescents. The goals within the groups were to learn and be able to implement mindful coping skills independently and increase self-awareness, self-acceptance, and grow in compassion. Anxiety is one of the most prevalent conditions affecting adolescents and in Crowley et al. (2018) study, the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children was used to measure anxiety, and to assess stress, the Perceived Stress Scale was used. Most treatments for these issues are based on cognitive-behavioral therapies coupled with medication, and mindfulness-based approaches are another promising method proven to be useful with adults. Anxiety oftentimes includes symptoms of negative self-criticism and mindfulness love-kindness practice focuses on positive coping skills. The leader of these sessions was a Licensed Occupational Therapist with Mindful School training and 9-year meditative practice training. A specific mindfulness intervention was mindful breathing which prompted participants to place a hand on their stomach, close their eyes, and do a body exam in which individuals pay attention to their entire body with their mind. Results found an improvement in self-reported anxiety and parents and youth reported improvements in attention problems.
The authors found this study to have reduced perceived stress and internalization of symptoms as well as decrease attention problems. The authors attribute this to teaching participants to redirect their mind and to better pay attention. The authors did not go into specifics about the life of the group or how the group developed but rather focused on the mindfulness approach and its success and overall results. The author suggests further studies into approaches to combat anxiety in adolescents and I would suggest looking deeper into the life of the group and seeing how this aspect of the group might affect the end results.
Gray and Rubel (2018) article researched adolescents and focused on group cohesion. The adolescents are from a rural setting where most services received are from schools rather than other organizations. Few studies have been done about rural areas and this study specifically focuses on adolescent cohesion in rural schools within a counseling group. Adolescents in a rural area have an increased risk of socioeconomic disadvantages and mental health issues including increasing poverty, changing demographics, low high school graduation and college attendance rates, outward migration, and inequitable education.
This article researched data on counseling groups focused on group cohesion through collaborative qualitative research. The theory of constructivism is the framework, meaning the participant's meaning of experience and relationship to surroundings are considered. Gray and Rubel (2018) collected data from five different middle or high schools from adolescents who attend rural schools located more than 5 miles from urban areas. Seven adolescents were selected from sampling and some groups were open and some closed. The study focused on both personal and interpersonal problems having five participants attending counseling groups for social-emotional focus and two with an academic focus. The number of sessions ranged from 10-12 with weekly 45-50 minutes meetings. Interviews were collected from the participants and final interviews were collected from six of the seven members.
The goals of some of the groups were to work on coping skills, problem-solving, or family and friendship issues while the other goals were to focus on the topic of motivation and study skills. The goal of the article was to look specifically at the data from the counseling groups and see the cohesion from those groups in rural schools. Gray and Rubel (2018) collected data and then interviewed them throughout the group counseling. The interviews conducted were semi-structured and took place in a private-public facility. All 20 interviews were audiotaped and were 30 minutes or less. The participants were asked questions about their experience and if individuals felt the freedom to express themselves within sessions. A sample intervention from this data collection would be how Gray and Rubel collected the data and promoted trustworthiness. The researchers took part in reflexivity, prolonged engagement, triangulation, and peer review and debriefing which added in building trust and rapport with participants.
The authors of this article found a central category of ‘sticking together.’ This sticking together shows a tight bond helping participants feel close to the group and make friends. It is interesting to note that group structure and process were big indicators of the experience of cohesion. Group leadership had an impact on a strong and caring leader leading to more support and cohesion throughout the group. A safe environment and group membership boundaries both played a part in the session with members mentioning having an open group with new members joining affected participants openness and lower cohesion at first. Making connections and finding similarities occurred between participants and resolving conflict within groups was also mentioned being a group process element and after the conflict, cohesion ended up increasing. The authors mention all the participant's views on their experience to groups with the common theme of sticking together of feeling close to the group, feeling of belonging, positive feelings, lasting connections, open social interactions, and/or making friends.
Lee and Peng (2017) conducted a study with mothers of children with special educational needs. The focus of this study was on the emotional well-being of the mothers and eleven participated in the 16-week art therapy group. This study was set in Hong Kong at a community center and mothers were recruited by a youth center. The art therapy group was a form of psychotherapy with an art psychotherapist, a Ph.D. in psychology, and a social worker running each group session. The mothers participating went through an intake interview and were in a closed group setting with those uninterested in art therapy being placed into a control group. The sessions were set in a structured format having goals for each of the weeks starting with getting to know one another (week 1-2), helping participants revisit their childhood (week 3-7), to review the relationship with the child (week 8-14), and lastly a final review and termination (week 15-16). Themes and key activities were set for each week and after the group was complete 26 participants completed a postintervention questioner in a group setting.
Lee and Peng (2017) study focused on measuring parental symptoms, parenting stress, parent-child relationship, child behavior outcomes, parental mood, and related areas, and parental change. The two-goal of the study was to show art therapies' effect on mothers and improve their emotional well-being as well as reduce parental stress compared to the control group. The goals within the groups were to explore topics like childhood, revisiting youth, exploring what love is and review, the relationship of mother and child, understanding the nature and feelings of the child, and expectant mothers had and expectations of the child. Some specific art interventions to help aid in exploring these topics included creating a self-portrait, using Play-Doh to represent the current state, creating an animal to represent childhood, role play, and draw the connection with the child since pregnancy.
The authors did not mention the life of the group or development other than some interview responses of how the study has changed mothers’ responses to their child. Each week mothers completed mood ratings, interviews, and artwork which proved successful within the study. Some interviews revealed the art activities brought the mothers closer to their children and made them aware of the challenges their children face and emotional reactions. The authors reported inconsistencies for support of the two hypotheses with the measure the study used. The art therapy group did not show a reduction of parenting stress or improve parenting practice. Emotional well-being also seemed similar to control group measures, while some parents reported a positive change in their emotions and found the group important in the post-interview. Parents also reported understanding their child better and 25% of the mothers reported understand the child’s disability better. In future studies, the researcher should measure group community ratings and see how coming together as a group effect overall result. It seemed the group became important to participants, so I wonder if these other relationships affected any of the measures the study was focused on.
Crowley, M. J., Nicholls, S. S., McCarthy, D., Greatorex, K., Wu, J., & Mayes, L. C. (2018). Innovations in practice: Group mindfulness for adolescent anxiety—Results of an open trial. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 23(2), 130–133. doi:10.1111/camh.12214
Gray, T. M., & Rubel, D. (2018). “Sticking Together”: The Adolescent Experience of the Cohesion Process in Rural School Counseling Groups. Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 43(1), 35–56. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.uc.opal-libraries.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1170468&site=ehost-live
Lee, S.-L., & Peng, M. S.-C. (2017). The effects of group art therapy on mothers of children with special educational needs. Art Therapy, 34(1), 12–19. https://doi-org.uc.opal-libraries.org/10.1080/07421656.2016.1273697
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