Neuro-Typical Children Outcomes from an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Summer Camp
A summer camp filled with ACT games and mindfulness hikes lifted psychological flexibility and awareness in neurotypical children.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Enoch et al. (2019) ran a summer camp that taught Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, to neurotypical kids. The camp used games, mindfulness walks, and group talks to help children notice thoughts without being ruled by them.
Kids were picked at random for the ACT camp or a regular fun camp. Researchers then measured psychological flexibility and mindful awareness in both groups.
What they found
Children who attended the ACT camp showed medium-sized gains in psychological flexibility and mindful awareness. The control group did not improve on these measures.
In plain words, the ACT kids got better at choosing actions that match their values even when tricky thoughts showed up.
How this fits with other research
Paliliunas et al. (2018) found similar medium gains when they gave graduate students a six-week ACT values class. The pattern shows ACT can boost flexibility across very different age groups.
Shawler et al. (2021) reviewed ACT studies with children who have special health-care needs. Their meta-analysis also found positive effects, but the evidence was smaller and more mixed. The current RCT adds a clear, well-controlled data point for neurotypical kids.
Ni et al. (2025) moved ACT to parents of autistic children and still saw medium benefits, this time in parenting stress and child behavior. Together these papers suggest ACT works for kids, parents, and even grad students when the activities fit the audience.
Why it matters
You can weave brief ACT games or mindfulness moments into social-skills groups, recess clubs, or after-school programs for typically developing children. A short value card sort, a two-minute noticing exercise, or a kindness walk can build flexibility without a full clinic hour. Try adding one ACT-based activity to your next group session and track if kids stay more engaged when rules or disappointments pop up.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The current article discusses the practical implications of using acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) in a community camp setting with children. Previous research demonstrates that ACT curricula for children paired with formal mindfulness- and acceptance-based activities show promise as an intervention for children. ACT may also be an effective intervention with children due to its approachable, acceptable, and easily implemented format of delivery. The current study used a neurotypical sample, and outcomes support the potential for increasing psychological flexibility and mindful awareness between an experimental group and a control group. Scores on the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth (AFQ-Y) and the Child Acceptance and Mindfulness Measure (CAMM) self-report questionnaires were obtained during pre- and postintervention. The results of the AFQ-Y suggest that there was a significant difference between the experimental group (M = 17.13, SD = 2.64) and the control group (M = 27.4, SD = 2.64) at posttest, F(1, 28) = 7.53, p = .01, \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$ {\upeta}_p^2 $$\end{document}ηp2 = .212. Similarly, the results of the CAMM suggest that there was a significant difference between the experimental group (M = 29.66, SD = 1.99) and the control group (M = 21.26, SD = 1.99) at posttest, F(1, 28) = 8.89, p = .006, \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$ {\upeta}_p^2 $$\end{document}ηp2 = .241. These results indicate that the members of the experimental group, compared to the control group, had significant increases in their overall mindful awareness and psychological flexibility after completing the Mindfulness Camp.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 2019 · doi:10.1007/s40617-018-00319-0