Conceptual Architecture for a Critical Realist Synthesis of a Universal School-based Mindfulness Intervention

This paper aims to establish the conceptual architecture for a Critical Realist synthesis of universal school-based mindfulness interventions (SBMIs). While SBMIs have demonstrated benefits in mental well-being, there is a lack of clarity on underlying mechanisms, contexts, and sustainability. A Critical Realist synthesis integrates ontological depth, epistemological reflexivity, and methodological pluralism to develop explanatory frameworks for complex social phenomena. Grounded in Bhaskar's critical realism, the synthesis adopts a stratified ontology that distinguishes between the real (underlying structures and mechanisms), the actual (events and processes), and the empirical (experiences and observations). This depth ontology enables the identification of causal mechanisms that operate across different levels of reality, including structural, cultural, and agential domains. Epistemologically, the synthesis embraces a fallibilist position, recognising that knowledge is socially and historically situated. It employs epistemic relativism to account for diverse perspectives while maintaining ontological realism. Methodologically, the synthesis employs a retroductive approach, combining qualitative and quantitative data to identify causal pathways and emergent properties. An iterative process involves theory refinement through abductive reasoning, retroduction, retrodiction and judgemental rationalism to determine the most plausible transdisciplinary explanation for the findings. The explanatory theory draws on Archer's Morphogenic approach, which theories the dynamic relationship between structure, agency and social change; Pearlin's theory of stress, which theorizes the dynamic relationship between social structures, social institutions, and psychological processes in mental health; and Bonell et al.' s.' theory of the school environment, which examines the interaction of institutional, social interactional, and intrapersonal processes in explaining how the social environment impacts on students' wellbeing. The programme theory was developed using a Laminated System analysis, which considered micro, meso, and macro-level interactions and was based on a targeted literature review. A Critical Realist synthesis advances theoretically informed and practically relevant insights for complex social interventions and policy evaluation by systematically identifying causal mechanisms and their contingent conditions. The review will inform policy, school practices, and intervention design, ensuring mindfulness programmes are context-sensitive and sustainable.