Psychosocial Benefits of Yoga Training for Freshmen High School Students

• Main Author: Scott, Kerri Alicia
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2016
• Subjects: Biology; Teacher education
• ISBN: 9798557015905

Stress in adolescents is a growing concern in the United States. The American Psychological Association has reported that teenagers are more stressed today than ever before (American Psychological Association, 2014 [APA]). Many studies have shown that relaxation techniques including yoga can be helpful in reducing stress and associated issues. This study investigates the efficacy of school teachers minimally trained in yoga techniques to instruct students in these techniques for 15-20 minutes per day 2-3 times per week during the school day. The hypothesis of this study was that this would be sufficient to see benefits in the students participating in yoga as compared to a control group that participated in silent reading for a similar duration of time. Students were asked to complete surveys pertaining to several psychosocial measures as well as bullying behavior and victimization. The yoga group showed significant reductions in bullying victimization over the course of the study while the control group saw no significant changes. Additionally, measures of confusion and depression increased in the control group (possibly enhanced by the death of a fellow student during the study) but there was no such change in the yoga group, indicating a protective effect from the yoga. These results indicate that students learning yoga techniques from classroom teachers with only a few hours of yoga-specific training can experience improvements in social interactions, while also being protected to a degree from the mental impacts of tragic events.