UCLA Kind Minds Program

Recruiting teens ages 12-17 and their parents to participate in a mindfulness research study. If you and your teen are interested in participating, please feel free to contact us via email: kindmindsprogram@gmail.com or phone (call or text): ‪‪(657) 234-8579 if you have any questions.

The Kind Minds Program (KMP) is a study to test the effects of a mindfulness program on well-being and resilience in teens ages 12-17 who may be experiencing anxiety and/or depression. Mindfulness is basically practicing being more aware of yourself, your thoughts and feelings, and your surroundings without being judgmental. Practicing mindfulness involves things like catching yourself getting stuck in negative thoughts and purposely switching to thinking about things you’re grateful for, or noticing when you are tense and stressed out and focusing on your breathing to calm down. Mindfulness helps people in different ways. Some teens who practice mindfulness find that it helps them handle stress more calmly, focus better, or even sleep better. It also helps some teens with relationships with friends and family. Teens and parents may earn up to $110 each. or a total of up to $220 combined in gift cards for their full participation in all study assessments! However, parents who are randomized into the mindfulness condition may receive an additional $50 for completing an optional exit interview at the end of the program for a total compensation of up to $160 for the parent or a total of up to $270 combined.

The KMP program takes about 12 weeks to complete. During that time, teens who end up participating in the study will be asked to complete surveys online and interviews with researchers over the phone or Zoom. All eligible teens will get access to the mindfulness program during the study, and will also get a mindfulness coach. The coaches will meet with teens (one-on-one) on Zoom for 30 minutes, once a week, for 9 weeks to learn various mindfulness practices. These coach meetings will be scheduled at a time that is convenient for your teen. Your child will also be asked to complete weekly questionnaires.

As a reminder, in the Kind Minds Program, parents/caregivers are participants as well! In order for a teen to participate in Kind Minds, a parent/caregiver must be eligible to participate and willing to try the mindfulness program, including coaching sessions and practicing mindfulness. Parents/caregivers will be randomly split into one of two groups: in one group they will be asked to participate in the same mindfulness program as their teen, and in the other they will not. Both groups will be asked to complete questionnaires and interviews during the study.

Signing Up

Please fill out this confidential form. Someone from our team will contact you to complete the consent/assent call to review the major components of the study with you and your teen.

Kind Minds Contact Form