Date of Award
5-1-2020
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Behavior Analysis and Therapy
First Advisor
Dixon, Mark
Abstract
Mindfulness based intervention (MBI) orients a person’s attention to the present moment in a non-judgmental way. The primary goal is to address verbal behavior deficits and increase psychological flexibility. Extensive research has found MBI’s to be successful in treating symptoms of depression, chronic pain, coping with psychosis, obsessive compulsive disorder, and mixed anxiety disorders. MBI research in neuro-typical children and adolescents, along with its effect on executive functioning, is lacking. An MBI curriculum targeted toward children and adolescents is Accept Identify Move (AIM). AIM integrates mindfulness, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). The purpose of the present study was to conduct an AIM intervention in a group setting. A randomized control trial including twenty typically developing children, between the ages of six and thirteen, was conducted. The intervention group received six thirty-minute sessions of AIM across three weeks. The control group participated in their after-school community center activities as usual. Pre and post-test measures were conducted to assess psychological flexibility and executive functioning. A 2x2 mixed ANOVA found statistically significant results for the executive functioning task, Digit Span (p<.05). Statistically significant results were not found for the three additional dependent measures. Results and implications are discussed.
Access
This thesis is only available for download to the SIUC community. Current SIUC affiliates may also access this paper off campus by searching Dissertations & Theses @ Southern Illinois University Carbondale from ProQuest. Others should contact the interlibrary loan department of your local library or contact ProQuest's Dissertation Express service.