4.2 Conclusions
Mounting evidence indicates that meditation is an effective approach for regulating pediatric pain and emotional distress. Mindfulness- and meditation-based interventions may be particularly well-suited for children because they do not engage CEN control systems, which are underdeveloped in youth, are easily accessible to children, and can be adapted to developmental age. Indeed, the present findings suggest that simple forms of meditation, such as focused attention to breath and mindful acceptance, can reduce activity in the DMN in children with limited meditation experience. Given alterations in the DMN are linked to various forms of psychopathology,57 these results suggest that meditation emotion regulation techniques may be effective for modulating DMN activity in youth. These results also have implications for the management of pain and distress in pediatric healthcare settings (e.g., needle-related procedures), and for mitigating negative effects of stress and trauma in pediatric population that face disproportionally high stress (e.g., chronic health conditions).