Associations between Mindfulness, Executive Function, Social-Emotional Skills, and Quality of Life among Hispanic Children

• Main Authors: Chien-Chung Huang, Shuang Lu, Juan Rios, Yafan Chen, Marci Stringham, Shannon Cheung
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-10-01
• Series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Subjects: Hispanic children; mindfulness; quality of life; executive function; social-emotional skills
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/21/7796
• ISSN: 1661-7827; 1660-4601

Hispanic children constitute the largest ethnic minority in the United States of America, and yet few studies examine the relationship between mindfulness and Hispanic children’s quality of life. This 2018 study seeks to gain insight into how mindfulness is associated with Hispanic children’s quality of life. We surveyed 96 children in 5th- and 6th-grade classes in three Northern New Jersey elementary schools in 2018. Structure Equation Modeling was used to examine the associations between mindfulness, executive function, social-emotional skills, and quality of life. The results indicate that mindfulness is significantly and directly associated with executive function (β = 0.53), and that executive function is positively associated with social-emotional skills (β = 0.54) and quality of life (β = 0.51) of the sampled Hispanic children. The total effects on quality of life are significant for mindfulness (β = 0.33), executive function (β = 0.62), and social-emotional skills (β = 0.20). The findings shed light upon factors that can affect Hispanic children’s quality of life and call for interventions related to these factors in order to improve their well-being.