Evidence for Practice
Supporting early intervention professionals with unique skill sets, backgrounds, and experiences can be challenging. The DEC Recommended Practices guide us in offering professional development that provides varied support, ensuring they have the knowledge and skills to support families in natural and inclusive environments. The DEC Position Statement on Ethical Practice further guides practitioners to continuously engage in individual and collective reflection, to identify and challenge individual biases and systemic inequities. Fostering early interventionists’ reflective capacities is critical to advance equity and inclusion and practice in ways that affirm the cultures and identities of the families we support.
Resources Used by EICAI:
Note: The materials related to the 4Rs Model were developed by EITP from Reflective Supervision/Consultation by the Center for Early Education & Development at the University of Minnesota © 2010
References:
Stress Reduction: “Mindfulness meditation programs had moderate evidence in reducing anxiety, depression, and pain, and improving psychological well-being compared with control conditions.” (Goyal et al., 2014)
- Goyal, M., Singh, S., Sibinga, E. M. S., Gould, N. F., Rowland-Seymour, A., Sharma, R., Berger, Z., Sleicher, D., Maron, D. D., Shihab, H. M., Ranasinghe, P. D., Linn, S., Saha, S., Bass, E. B., & Haythornthwaite, J. A. (2014). Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Internal Medicine, 174(3), 357–368. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.13018
Emotional Regulation & Self-Compassion: “Brief versions of MBSR (4–6 weeks) were effective in reducing psychological distress, increasing mindfulness and self-compassion, and reducing anxiety, burnout, stress, and rumination in working adults.” (Kriakous et al., 2020)
- Kriakous, S. A., Elliott, K. A., Lamers, C., & Owen, R. (2020). The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on the Psychological Functioning of Healthcare Professionals: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Stress Management, 27(4), 384–393. https://doi.org/10.1037/str0000168
Attention & Working Memory: “Trait mindfulness predicted better attention and working memory under both low and high stress conditions among junior school students." (Li et al., 2021)
- Li, Y., Yang, N., Zhang, Y., Xu, W., & Cai, L. (2021). The Relationship Among Trait Mindfulness, Attention, and Working Memory in Junior School Students Under Different Stressful Situations. Frontiers in Psychology, 12,618719. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.618719
Mood & Cognitive Benefits: “Eight weeks of daily brief meditation significantly decreased negative mood and state anxiety while enhancing attention, working memory, and recognition memory.” (Redick et al., 2019)
- Redick, T. S., Smolinsky, J. G., & Johnson, E. L. (2019). Mindfulness Meditation and Cognitive Performance: An Eight-Week Intervention. Mindfulness, 10(10), 2099–2110. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01191-x
