Background /Aim: Psychological changes during transition from primary to middle school are immense, leading to a lack of attention in children. Chanting has been beneficial to improve attention and other cognitive parameters, but the impact of individual elements of chanting is yet to be explored. The current four-armed comparative study was attempted to explore the impact of prosody/Chanda on sustained attention and response interference in middle school children. Methods: A total of 138 students (12.12 ± 0.74 years) were recruited from grades 7 and 8 of an English medium School and were allocated into four groups; Humming a Chanda (HC), Chanting a Sanskrit verse (CS), Reading an English verse (RE) and Silent sitting (SS). Fifteen minutes of the intervention was provided every day, divided into three sessions of 5 minutes each for four weeks. Baseline and post-intervention data were collected using Digit Letter Substitution Test (DLST) and Stroop color-word test. Results: The current study had a cent percent adherence to the protocol. Within-group analysis using sample t-test demonstrated significant changes in HC, CS, and SS groups (p<0.001) with DLST scores. Post-hoc analysis revealed that the CS group had higher scores; however, there were no differences between the HC and CS groups. Stroop scores improved in all groups except for the SS group. Post-hoc analysis to examine the superiority between groups presented a higher statistical significance in CS group when compared to HC group. A statistical significance was also observed between the chanting and SS group. There were statistical differences within the group in both HC and CS groups in the Stroop mistake scores, but no differences were observed between groups. Conclusion: Our study results revealed that humming prosody and chanting a mantra have similar effects on sustained attention; however, humming has no effect on response interference among middle school children.

Background: Adolescence is a critical period of maturation and immense emotional and behavioral changes. Yoga-based rhythmic recitations have been established to improve emotional personality features. Aim: The current four-arm comparative study attempted to appreciate the rhythmic recitations/prosody on Emotional personality among adolescents. Method: 138 adolescents (age 12.11 ± 0.76 years) satisfying inclusion and exclusion criteria were recruited and randomly allocated into four groups i.e., Humming the recitation following a Chanda (HR), Chanting a mantra (CM), Reading an English phrase, and Silent sitting, based on sections of their respective grades. Group intervention was done for 5 minutes, 3 times a day, for 30 days. According to their allocated group was provided. Subjects were assessed with positive and negative Affect Schedules (PANAS) at baseline and post-intervention. Result: There was no difference in both domains of PANAS in within group analysis. However, the positive affect was statistically significant when compared between the groups (p>0.01). A post-hoc analysis revealed the superiority of the CM and HM groups in positive affect alone when compared with other two groups. Conclusion: There was no statistical difference between CM and HM groups in both domains of PANAS. A humming prosody and mantra chanting demonstrated a similar effect on the amelioration of a positive Emotional personality among adolescents.

Background: Upsurge in anxiety and struggle with self-concept commonly appears during adolescence. Chanting of many forms have been established to improve emotional personality features. Aim and Objectives: We conducted a four-armed comparative study to explore the capacity of Chanda/prosody to impact anxiety, mindfulness, and self-concept in young adolescents. Material and Methods: A total of 140 students (12.12 ± 0.74 years) were screened, out of which 138 met the inclusion criteria and were allocated into four groups: humming a Chanda, chanting a Sanskrit verse, reading an English phrase (EP), and silent sitting. Baseline and postintervention data were collected using the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale, Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale for Children, and Children's Self-Concept Scale. Result: Our study results reveal that there was a significant reduction in anxiety levels in the humming group and few domains of anxiety in the chanting group as well. The mindfulness scores were significantly improved in all the four groups including the humming and chanting groups after the interventions. Conclusion: There was no effect on self-concept scores in the humming group whereas the chanting group had a significant improvement in self-concept scale.

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