UNIGE team integrating improvisational theatre, mindfulness meditation and board games in Geneva, Switzerland; protective effect on anxious teens’ mental health
Improvisational Theatre, Meditation, and Games Support Anxious Teens - Medias - UNIGE
Improvisational Theatre, Meditation, and Games Support Anxious Teens
Published on 11 Aug 2026
A UNIGE team shows that integrating these three activities into the classroom can help stabilise—and even improve—students’ mental health.
Emotional difficulties among young people have increased, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic. In this context, developing social and emotional skills can help strengthen their ability to cope with challenges. A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in collaboration with UniDistance Suisse, the University of Fribourg and Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), examined the effects of regular classroom practice of improvisational theatre, mindfulness meditation and board games designed to explore emotions. Their findings show that these activities have a protective effect on the mental health and self-efficacy of adolescents with the highest levels of anxiety. Improvisational theatre, in particular, fosters the development of empathy and collaboration, regardless of students’ anxiety levels. The findings have been published in Social and Emotional Learning: Research, Practice, and Policy .
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