AUTHOR=Filipe Marisa G. , Magalhães Sofia , Veloso Andreia S. , Costa Ana Filipa , Ribeiro Lúcia , Araújo Patrícia , Castro São Luís , Limpo Teresa TITLE=Exploring the Effects of Meditation Techniques Used by Mindfulness-Based Programs on the Cognitive, Social-Emotional, and Academic Skills of Children: A Systematic Review JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2021 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.660650 DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2021.660650 ISSN=1664-1078 ABSTRACT=There is evidence for the positive impact of mindfulness in children. However, little is known about the techniques through which mindfulness practice results in differential out-comes. Therefore, this study intended to systematically review the available evidence about the efficacy of meditation techniques used by mindfulness-based programs on cognitive, socio-emotional, and academic skills of children from 6 to 12 years of age. The review was registered on the PROSPERO database, and the literature search was conducted according to PICO crite-ria and PRISMA guidelines. The EBSCO databases were searched, and 29 studies were eligi-ble: nine randomized controlled trials and 20 quasi-experimental studies. All the included ran-domized controlled trials were rated as having a high risk of bias. Overall, the evidence for mindfulness techniques improving cognitive and socio-emotional skills was reasonably strong. Specifically, for cognitive skills, results showed that all the interventions used ‘body-centered meditations’ and ‘mindful observations’. Regarding socio-emotional skills, although all the studies applied ‘body-centered meditations’ and ‘mindful observations’, ‘affect-centered medi-tations’ were also frequent. For academic skills, just one quasi-experimental trial found im-provements, thus making it difficult to draw conclusions. Further research is crucial to evaluate the unique effects of different meditation techniques on children's cognitive, social-emotional, and academic skills.