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The Potential Benefits of Mindfulness Training in Early Childhood: A Developmental Social Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective
Child Development Perspectives
Short Title: The Potential Benefits of Mindfulness Training in Early Childhood
Format: Journal Article
Publication Year: 2012
Pages: 154–160
Library/Archive: © 2012 The Authors. Child Development Perspectives © 2012 The Society for Research in Child Development
Sources ID: 21571
Visibility: Private
Abstract: (Show)

Early childhood is marked by substantial development in the self-regulatory skills supporting school readiness and socioemotional competence. Evidence from developmental social cognitive neuroscience suggests that these skills develop as a function of changes in a dynamic interaction between more top-down (controlled) regulatory processes and more bottom-up (automatic) influences on behavior. Mindfulness training—using age-appropriate activities to exercise children's reflection on their moment-to-moment experiences—may support the development of self-regulation by targeting top-down processes while lessening bottom-up influences (such as anxiety, stress, curiosity) to create conditions conducive to reflection, both during problem solving and in more playful, exploratory ways.

Subjects: 
Pediatrics and Contemplation
Health Care and Contemplation
Practitioner Context
Psychology and Contemplation
Science and Contemplation
Contemplation by Applied Subject