Promoting mindfulness in students with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Amanda Katherine McMahon

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities can be at an increased risk for developing mental health disorders. This is especially true for adolescents and the practice of mindfulness may be one strategy that can help support the mental health needs of this underserved population. Evidence supports the positive role that mindfulness can play in promoting the mental health in typically developing and non-typically developing peers. However, those with intellectual and developmental disabilities may need additional support in cultivating the practice. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the use of a wearable EEG device designed to provide neurofeedback to help promote state mindfulness or how mindful an individual is at a particular moment in adolescents with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Additionally, attention and emotion regulation mechanisms were examined. These two highly interrelated mechanisms might explain the relationship between the practice of mindfulness and heightened self-regulation, which can promote positive mental health outcomes. Affect was further examined to serve as an indicator for emotion regulation. One last aim of this study was to determine the social validity of using a wearable device to promote the practice. Five students with intellectual and developmental disabilities completed five-minute sessions using a wearable EEG device called the MUSE. Following an ABAB single subject study design, the baseline phase consisted of no neurofeedback for five sessions and the intervention phase consisted of listening to the neurofeedback provided by the device, totaling 20 sessions. During each session, surveys to assess attention and affect were administered. Pre- and post-interviews were conducted with the student's teachers regarding their student's emotion regulation behavior. Social validity was assessed through interview questions with the students and teachers. Results show partial support of using the neurofeedback to promote state mindfulness, paying more attention to the breath, and higher affect. Improvement in emotion regulation was not demonstrated in all of the students, however the interviews provide evidence of the social validity for the MUSE. Researchers must continue to explore how adolescents with IDD respond to varying mindfulness protocols and how to best support this population and their mental health needs.

Promoting mindfulness in students with intellectual and developmental disabilities

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