This research investigates whether a short mindfulness exercise can reduce children’s psychophysiological stress reactions in the face of a performance task. To answer the question, a randomized controlled trial with 106 elementary school children, aged between 5 and 11 years, was conducted. An intervention group completed a two-minute breathing exercise, whilst a comparison group watched a short video, before both groups performed a stress-evoking Stroop test. The stress levels of both groups were measured via galvanic skin response and compared. It was hypothesized that the comparison group would show a higher stress reaction during the stress-evoking task than the intervention group. Contrary to the hypothesis, results show that the intervention group had a higher psychophysiological stress reaction during the task than the comparison group. However, the stress reaction to the announced difficulty of the task was smaller in the mindfulness group than in the comparison group. Results are discussed based on different theoretical mechanisms of mindfulness. Directions for future research include the use of different techniques and durations of mindfulness interventions, different control group activities and stress-test operationalizations, as well as the distinction between age groups.

中文翻译：

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短暂的正念呼吸干预对德国小学生心理生理应激反应的影响

这项研究调查了短暂的正念练习是否可以减少儿童在面对表演任务时的心理生理压力反应。为了回答这个问题，我们对 106 名 5 至 11 岁的小学生进行了随机对照试验。干预组完成了两分钟的呼吸练习，而对照组则观看了一段短片，然后两组都进行了诱发压力的 Stroop 测试。通过皮肤电反应测量并比较两组的压力水平。假设对照组在压力诱发任务期间会比干预组表现出更高的压力反应。与假设相反，结果显示干预组在任务过程中的心理生理应激反应高于对照组。然而，正念组对宣布的任务难度的压力反应小于对照组。根据不同的正念理论机制讨论结果。未来研究的方向包括使用不同的技术和正念干预的持续时间、不同的对照组活动和压力测试操作，以及年龄组之间的区别。