Joshua C. Felver

Syracuse University | SU · Department of Psychology

Objectives Mindfulness practice and trait self-compassion are promising coping resources to buffer against emotional stress reactivity and promote stress recovery. The potential variation in stress-buffering effects across gender is understudied. This study examined whether stress-buffering effects of a brief 20-min mindfulness practice and trait s...

Purpose Research of mindfulness-based programming/interventions (MBP) for youth has proliferated in recent years; however, heterogeneity of MBP for youth impede determination of optimal programmatic structure across developmental periods. Design/Approach/Methods Expert MBP scientists and instructors were iteratively surveyed using the Delphi metho...

The current study examined the reliability and validity of the Mindful Student Questionnaire (MSQ) among a sample of Chinese vocational school students. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) models were fitted using MSQ and Student Subjective Wellbeing Questionnaire (SSWQ) data collected from 2910 adolescent stude...

This research evaluated the effects of a year-long mindfulness intervention in a predominately Black student sample in an urban high-poverty middle school. Five English Language Arts classrooms (n = 56) were randomly assigned to brief daily 5-min mindfulness practice or an active control. Students were measured at three time points throughout the s...

Objectives The objective of this study was to examine the effects of Mindfulness-Based Positive Behavior Support (MBPBS) training on the nature of caregiver and client reciprocal interactions at a moment-by-moment level using behavior analytic methodology. Specifically, we compared the behavior of caregivers and clients before and after MBPBS train...

Objective: Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) reduces anxiety among undergraduate students; however, there is limited evidence demonstrating mechanistic underpinnings. Theoretical models implicate cognitive self-regulation as a mechanism. This study explored whether an adapted MBSR embedded in a college course reduced anxiety and if self-reg...

Research suggests that disparities in exclusionary discipline can be explained, in part, by teachers’ anti-Black biases in disciplinary decision-making. An emerging body of literature also speaks to the benefits of cultivating mindfulness for bias reduction. The present study adds to the literature by assessing whether mindfulness is associated wit...

Purpose: The objectives of this study were to examine whether self-compassion may be a protective coping resource against depression and anxiety symptoms for young adults experiencing discrimination and to explore the protective influence of self-compassion among sexual minority young adults (SMYAs) relative to heterosexual peers. Methods: Undergra...

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations report numerous mental health disparities relative to heterosexual and cisgender populations, due in part to the effects of minority stress. This article evaluated self-compassion as a coping resource among SGM populations by (a) meta-analyzing the associations between self-compassion, minority stress, a...

Objectives The implementation of mindfulness-based programming/interventions (MBP) for youth, and corresponding research, has proliferated in recent years. Although preliminary evidence is promising, one pressing concern is that the heterogeneity of MBP for youth makes it difficult to infer the essential constituent program elements that may be dri...

Objectives Research on school-based mindfulness programs (SBMPs) indicates promising, albeit mixed, effects. However, there has been a lack of consistency and completeness in implementation reporting, frustrating efforts to draw causal inferences about the implementation elements that influence program outcomes. To address these issues, we crafted...

Problematic substance use during adolescence predicts numerous adverse outcomes, including increased risk of substance use disorders in adulthood. Adolescents often use substances to cope with stress, particularly adolescents who have experienced environmental stress in childhood (e.g., low-income environments), but research indicates stress-relate...

Objective: Knowledge gaps remain regarding whether syndemic conditions identify treatment-seeking individuals most at risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB). We employed latent class analysis to: (1) model treatment-seeking individuals' syndemic conditions, (2) examine latent classes across nonmedical social determinants, and (3) assess as...

Purpose Stress is a risk factor for poor educational achievement and health. Mindfulness-based programming (MBP) is a viable technology for reducing stress, and Mindful Stress Buffering theory suggests that the benefits of MBP will be most pronounced during periods of high stress. This research details a replication of the MBP “Learning to BREATHE”...

Objectives To examine whether a brief mindfulness-based program (MBP) reduces observable challenging behavior in elementary students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), when delivered one-on-one by a natural intervention agent. Methods Using a concurrent multiple baseline design, we examined whether Soles of the Feet (SoF) reduces challenging beh...

Mindfulness-based programs are a promising intervention modality for reducing disruptive behavior, and Soles of the Feet (SOF) is one program that teaches internal awareness of personal events (e.g., unpleasant emotions) and a self-regulation strategy to decrease disruptive behaviors. This study conducted a meta-analysis of single-case research des...

Background : Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and day-to-day discrimination (hereafter, “discrimination”) both contribute to mental health symptomatology in young adulthood, but how these constructs interact and whether they are associated with mental health remains unclear. This study evaluated whether the relation between discrimination in yo...

Objectives Research has demonstrated that excessive stress reactivity responses are associated with the development of cardiovascular disease and psychopathology. Thus, it is important to identify potential protective factors, such as trait mindfulness or trait self-compassion, that may buffer against excessive stress reactivity.Methods Undergradua...

Objective: The traditional Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) is a widely used standardized stress induction protocol, and has recently been adapted in a variety of virtual reality environments (V-TSST). Research has demonstrated the ability of V-TSST to induce a stress reactivity response measured via cortisol, heart rate, and self-report. However,...

Objectives Excessive stress has become a common health concern that may result in deleterious physical and psychological conditions. Mindfulness has emerged as a practice that may buffer stress reactivity and researchers have progressively used an empirically validated laboratory protocol, the Trier Social Stress Test, to elicit stress reactivity t...

Objectives Many of the observed benefits following mindfulness training are associated with changes to acceptance, characterized by having less reactivity to, and judgment of, one’s experiences. Acceptance may be particularly relevant to the processing of errors, as errors often enlist difficult cognitive and affective reactions. Error processing c...

Background: Youth often experience stressors leading to negative long-term outcomes. Enhancing social-emotional attributes is important to foster resiliency to face these challenges. Yoga may enhance social-emotional resiliency among youth. However, research replicating such results in school-settings is limited. This research details an investigat...

Background Maladaptive responses to stressors can lead to poor physical and psychological health outcomes. Laboratory studies of stress induction commonly use the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). The TSST has been shown to reliably induce a stress response, most commonly measured via cortisol reactivity. Recently, researchers have used virtual envi...

Students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have difficulty with academic work in school because they are inattentive and disruptive as a result of the core systems of their disorder. In addition to behavioral challenges frequently associated with ADHD, these students may also have deficits in working memory, planning and organiza...

This research evaluated the effects of a seven-session mindfulness intervention, Learning to BREATHE, on an ethnically diverse at-risk high school student sample. Two classrooms were randomly assigned to intervention or normal health-education programming. Results indicated significant effects to self-reported psychosocial resilience, with students...

This chapter proposes several alternative conceptualizations and methodologies regarding the measurement of mindfulness. Contemporary approaches to the measurement of the construct are reviewed and critically analyzed. Following this, several procedures are detailed to introduce novel measurement approaches. This chapter argues for a critical reexa...

Soles of the Feet for Students (SOF) has demonstrated effectiveness at increasing academic engagement among general education students. This work intended to replicate and extend previous work by exploring the effectiveness and social validity of SOF among students receiving special education services, who had low levels of academic engagement and...

Relating to adolescent children can be challenging for parents, and yet children’s perceptions of positive parent–child relationships are protective against deleterious outcomes. Therefore, it is valuable to understand and explore strategies that can support positive parent–adolescent relationships during adolescence. The present study investigates...

This research explored the effectiveness of a manualized contemplative intervention among children receiving intensive residential psychiatric care. Ten children with severe psychiatric disabilities received 12 sessions (30–45 min) of “Mindful Life: Schools” (MLS) over the course of a month. Facility-reported data on the use of physical interventio...

Students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often do not actively engage in academic instruction because they have difficulty in attending to task demands in the classroom. Without adequate intervention, this may result in poor academic outcomes for these students. In a multiple baseline design study, we taught four 5th-grade stud...

There is a growing interest in the use of mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) on youth, which has recently expanded to include the study of students in school settings. This article systematically reviewed the existing literature of applied studies using MBI with students in school settings in order to identify limitations in the scientific liter...

Objective: This article describes results from a randomized clinical trial of a mindfulness-based intervention for parents and children, Mindful Family Stress Reduction, on a behavioral measure of attention in youths, the Attention Network Task (ANT). Method: Forty-one parent-child dyads were randomly assigned to either the mindfulness-based int...

The purpose of the present study was to directly compare the acute effects of participating in a single yoga class versus a single standard physical education (PE) class on student mood. Forty-seven high school students completed self-report questionnaires assessing mood and affect immediately before and after participating in a single yoga class a...

Children with high rates of disruptive behavior in elementary school are at-risk for future psychosocial difficulties. Professionals who work in today's schools are in need of effective interventions to reduce rates of disruptive behaviors in schools in order to ensure optimal outcomes for students. This manuscript details a pilot study of a brief...

Although the use of mindfulness is increasing in other areas of applied psychology, school psychology has yet to embrace it in practice. This article introduces school psychologists to the burgeoning field of mindfulness psychology and to the possibilities that it offers to their discipline. A background on the Western scientific study and applicat...

Reaction time (RT) and event-related potential (ERP) measures were used to examine the relationships between psychopathic symptoms and three major attention networks (alerting, orienting, and executive attention) among a community sample of youth. Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD; Frick and Hare 2001) total and subscale scores were negativ...

This chapter addresses the role of self-regulation in the development of adolescent-onset drug use. Specifically, we focus on the interface between peer influences, parenting, self-regulation, and drug use. Recent longitudinal analyses suggest that peer clustering into groups supportive of drug use is central to the etiology of adolescent onset and...

Based on the premises that strength-based assessment of children and adolescents is an important emerging area, and that additional tools for this purpose are needed, this study details development and validation efforts on a new strength-based assessment: the Social-Emotional Assets and Resilience Scale, parent form (SEARS-P). Following careful de...

To better understand the effects of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) on working memory performance. We first examined the construct validity of a working memory task (the 2-Back task) and its relationship to other tests of cognitive functioning, and then determined the effects of positive airway pressure (PAP) treatment on measures of both working mem...

To address the need for more strength-based measurement tools, the SEARS assessment system was developed. This paper reports preliminary descriptive statistics, internal consistency reliability, gender differences, grade level differences, and factor structure of the SEARS. Students from elementary, middle, and high schools in Colorado, Georgia, Io...

The purpose of this presentation is to introduce and describe the development of the SEARS-P (parent version). In addition, we present preliminary research data and analyses of national standardization norms to date. Current normative data, descriptive statistics, explorations of parent agreement/disagreement on ratings of the same child, and diffe...