Mindfulness-Based Coping Program for Adolescents

Abstract The purpose of this grant proposal is to create and evaluate the feasibility of a mindfulness-based coping program for adolescents in high school. Many adolescents experience school-related stress on a daily basis, especially those students makingthe transition from middle school to high school. Because some high school students lack the necessary coping skills to effectively deal with stress, they are in need of new ways to manage their daily lives. Mindfulness training is one possible avenue tobuild youth's coping repertoires. Emerging research in mindfulness with youth has revealed a range of benefits including improvements in self-regulatory abilities and effective stress responses and decreases in anxiety and externalizing behaviors. Trainingin mindfulness may provide adolescents with new ways to cope with stress, thereby preventing the development of future health illnesses and diseases. However, no evidence-based programs currently exist that utilize mindfulness as a tool to teach adolesce