Martial Arts-Based Therapy Reduces Pain and Distress Among Children with Chronic Health Conditions and Their Siblings

Marusak, Hilary A.; Iadipaolo, Allesandra; Cohen, Carl M.; Goldberg, Elimelech; Taub, Jeffrey W.; Harper, Felicity W. K.; Bluth, Martin H.; Rabinak, Christine A.

doi:10.2147/jpr.s283364

Cited by 11 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Prior studies support beneficial effects of meditation on self-reported pain and emotional distress in children over time (e.g., over 4-or 8-week programs) 32 or following a single session. 21 We also observed minimal differences in brain activity between conditions, which should be examined in future studies with larger sample sizes. However, we found preliminary evidence that focused attention may be more effective for downregulating DMN activity than mindful acceptance, which may reflect the fact that paying attention to the breath may be a simpler concept for children.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

“…55,56 We focused on children with cancer because this pediatric population is exposed to disease-and treatment-related stress, is at increased risk of emotion dysregulation, 35 and because martial arts-based meditation programs have shown to be effective for reducing pain and emotional distress in this population. 21,36 In addition, the relatively wide age span (5-17 years) is a limitation due to differences in functional connectivity in young children compared to older teenagers. Another limitation is that we examined two forms of meditation (i.e., focused attention, mindful acceptance) and one cognitive emotion regulation strategy (distraction), which may not be representative of all available emotion regulation techniques.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A meta-analysis of 33 randomized controlled trials reported benefits of meditation programs on attention, depression, and stress among clinical and non-clinical pediatric samples. 18 Mindfulness and meditation-based programs are popular in school settings, 19 and increasingly used to help children cope with stressful experiences, such as chronic conditions (e.g., cancer) 20,21 or trauma. 22 Meditation as an emotion regulation strategy is promising for preventing mental disorders, given that nearly half of all mental disorders begin during childhood and adolescence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To address this gap, we examined the within-subjects effects of meditation on brain activity in a sample of children with cancer, who experience significant disease and treatment-related distress. 35 Participants received minimal meditation training (4 hrs) through a well-established martial arts-based meditation program 21,36 prior to undergoing an adapted version of an established fMRI emotion regulation task in the scanner. We compared two meditation emotion regulation techniques (i.e., focused attention and mindful acceptance) with a control condition (i.e., passive viewing) and with a non-meditation emotion technique (i.e., distraction).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Meditation reduces brain activity in the default mode network in children with cancer

Hehr

Iadipaolo

Morales

et al. 2022

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Background: Mounting evidence demonstrates that meditation can lower pain and emotional distress in adults, and more recently, in children. Meditation may be an effective form of emotion regulation in children because it is easily accessible and more easily done across a variety of settings in which toys may not be available, for e.g., settings requiring a “clean” environment (e.g., surgical prep). Further, neuroimaging studies in adults suggest that meditation techniques are neurobiologically distinct from other forms of emotion regulation, such as distraction, that rely on prefrontal control mechanisms, which are underdeveloped in youth. Rather, meditation techniques may not rely on “top-down” prefrontal control and may therefore be utilized across the lifespan. Procedure: We examined neural activation in children with cancer, who experience significant distress. During neuroimaging, children viewed distress-inducing video clips while using martial arts-based meditation (focused attention, mindful acceptance) or non-meditation (distraction) emotion regulation techniques. In a third condition (control), participants passively viewed the video clip. Results: We found that meditation techniques were associated with lower activation in default mode network (DMN) regions, including the medial frontal cortex, precuneus, and posterior cingulate cortex, compared to the control condition. Additionally, we found evidence that meditation techniques may be more effective for modulating DMN activity than distraction. There were no differences in self-reported distress ratings between conditions. Conclusion: Together, these findings suggest that martial arts-based meditation modulates negative self-referential processing associated with the DMN, and may have implications for the management of pediatric pain and negative emotion.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Meditation reduces brain activity in the default mode network in children with cancer

Hehr

Iadipaolo

Morales

et al. 2022

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Engaging with children from lower-income communities or who have higher initial emotional or behavioral problems is critical because research shows that these groups are at the highest risk of falling behind academically. Finally, studies showed that martial arts training also reduced pain and emotional distress among children with cancer, other chronic diseases, and their siblings (ages 5-17; Bluth, Thomas, Cohen, Bluth, & Goldberg, 2016;Marusak et al, 2020).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Martial Arts‐Based Curriculum Reduces Stress, Emotional, and Behavioral Problems in Elementary Schoolchildren During the COVID‐19 Pandemic: A Pilot Study

Marusak

Borg

Morales

et al. 2021

Mind Brain and Education

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This exploratory study examined the impact of Heroes Circle, a martial arts-based curriculum on stress, emotional, and behavioral problems in elementary school children. While students completed classroom surveys at baseline, post-curriculum surveys were collected from teachers, students, and parents/guardians 2 and 5 months after COVID-19-related school shutdowns. Satisfaction with the curriculum was high among those who received the intervention. Children reported increased mindfulness and decreased stress over the school year. Most children (77%) were still using the program's techniques and reporting benefits 5 months later, including lower internalizing symptoms and COVID-19-related fears. These patterns were not observed at the control school.

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Strong mind, strong body: The promise of mind–body interventions to address growing mental health needs among youth

Grasser

Marusak

2023

Mental Health Science

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As the prevalence of childhood and adolescent anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns continues to rise, there has been an unprecedented increase in support of mind-body practices like yoga, dance, meditation, mindfulness, aerobic exercise, and more-in part driven by the mental health burden imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.While a growing body of evidence supports the safety and effectiveness of mind-body approaches, gaps in funding for and empirical research on mechanistic underpinnings, methodology development to assess multicomponent therapeutic practices, dissemination and implementation, and diversity in researchers, practitioners, and recipients remain. As a consequence, the neurobiological impacts of mind-body techniques are not well understood nor broadly accepted as standard forms of care by clinicians and insurers-often being considered as "alternative" rather than "complementary" or "integrative." In this commentary, we summarize work from our labs and others highlighting the promise of mind-body approaches for improving mental health in youth, in line with the National Institute of Mental Health's strategic plan to address health disparities. We offer a potential framework for implementation and research-the Expressive Therapies Continuum. We also propose solutions to key research and policy gaps, that by could have positive public health impacts for those who are struggling and to prevent emergence of psychiatric illness, especially in developing youth.

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Martial Arts-Based Therapy Reduces Pain and Distress Among Children with Chronic Health Conditions and Their Siblings

Cited by 11 publications

References 55 publications

Meditation reduces brain activity in the default mode network in children with cancer

Meditation reduces brain activity in the default mode network in children with cancer

Martial Arts‐Based Curriculum Reduces Stress, Emotional, and Behavioral Problems in Elementary Schoolchildren During the COVID‐19 Pandemic: A Pilot Study

Strong mind, strong body: The promise of mind–body interventions to address growing mental health needs among youth

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