Research into practice
Can Breathwork Help Young People Feel More Connected?
What a 2026 study of adolescent girls suggests—and what it does not yet prove
Belonging is more than something that is simply nice to have. During adolescence, feeling accepted and connected can shape how a young person experiences school, friendship, identity and the difficult work of becoming themselves.
For teenagers who have lived through serious difficulties, connection may be especially important—and especially hard to find. A 2026 study asked a hopeful question: could learning about emotions, together with regular breathing practices, help vulnerable teenage girls feel a stronger sense of belonging?
A few terms in everyday language:
Social connectedness means feeling close to, accepted by and supported by other people.
Adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, are difficult or potentially traumatic experiences during childhood that may affect later wellbeing.
Social-emotional learning helps young people understand emotions, relationships and healthy ways of responding.
Autonomic regulation refers to the body’s ability to shift between stress and a more settled state. Breathwork is one way people may practise influencing that automatic system.
Who took part?
The researchers followed 174 Latina adolescents between 14 and 18 years of age. All attended one of two high schools in Southern California.
The girls reported on difficult experiences they had faced during childhood. For the analysis, the researchers looked separately at those reporting fewer than four ACEs and those reporting four or more.
What did the students do?
Some students took part in the four-week SKY Schools program. It combined social-emotional learning with breathing practices. They then continued daily breathwork for another eight weeks.
The other students continued their usual physical-education classes. Everyone completed a questionnaire about social connectedness before the program, after the four-week program and again after the eight weeks of daily practice.
What changed?
The clearest improvement appeared among the girls who had reported four or more adverse childhood experiences. After the program and daily-breathwork period, their average social-connectedness score was 7% higher than it had been at the beginning.
Researchers described the difference across the groups as statistically significant. In everyday terms, this means the pattern was strong enough that they considered it unlikely to be explained by chance alone.
Importantly, the girls reporting the greatest childhood adversity were the group for whom taking part in the program was associated with feeling more socially connected.
Why this finding is interesting
We often talk about belonging as though it depends entirely on finding the right friends or joining the right group. This study suggests there may be another part of the picture: what happens inside the body when a social situation feels uncertain or stressful.
The program did not use breathwork by itself. It paired breathing practices with lessons about emotions and relationships. That combination may matter. Young people may benefit from having words for what they are experiencing, alongside practical ways to settle their bodies.
What do we still not know?
What is encouraging
The researchers checked in with the students at several points rather than only once.
The study focused on girls who may be especially vulnerable to feeling isolated.
It measured something meaningful: whether the students themselves felt connected.
What remains uncertain
All participants were Latina girls from only two schools, so the result may not apply in the same way to other young people.
Because the program combined emotional learning and breathwork, we cannot tell which part produced the change.
A questionnaire can tell us how connected someone feels, but not everything about the quality of their relationships.
The study shows an association: the students who received the combined program and had high ACE exposure later reported more connection. It does not prove that breathwork alone caused the improvement or that one breathing practice will create belonging for every teenager.
Reading this through a parent’s lens
As a parent, I find the study hopeful not because it offers a quick solution, but because it broadens the kinds of support we might imagine for young people. Adolescents do not always need more advice. Sometimes they need environments that build emotional understanding, offer repeated experiences of safe participation and give them simple ways to settle themselves when connection feels difficult.
This perspective also protects us from placing the entire responsibility for belonging on the child. Connection is shaped by the young person, their nervous system, their relationships and the environments adults help create around them.
A responsible takeaway for parents and educators:
Breathwork may be one supportive element within a larger approach that includes emotional literacy, trustworthy relationships, inclusive school environments and appropriate mental-health care when needed.
Questions worth carrying forward
How might schools make emotional regulation and belonging part of everyday education rather than waiting until a young person is already struggling?
How can adults offer regulation practices without implying that children must calmly adapt to unsafe or exclusionary environments?
And how might we evaluate not only whether young people are coping, but whether they genuinely feel seen, included and connected?
It is also, “How do we help them experience that they do not have to carry those feelings alone?”
This reflection is shared for parents, educators and wellbeing practitioners interested in the meeting place between research, regulation and belonging.
Reference: Chabin, N. D., Chen, J., Abikenari, M., Dembow, M., Siddharth, P., Mays, V., Chavira, D., Ramsundarsingh, S., & Ghahremani, D. G. (2026). Social emotional learning and autonomic regulation enhance social connectedness in female adolescents with extensive exposure to adverse childhood experiences. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 36, e70228. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.70228
Scope note: This educational reflection summarizes one study and does not constitute clinical advice, an assessment of any young person or a recommendation of a particular intervention. Young people experiencing significant distress should receive individualized support from an appropriately qualified professional.