Using Yoga to Reduce Stress and Bullying Behaviors among Urban Youth

Abstract

Background/Purpose: Obesity and secondary conditions continue to disproportionally affect the health of children living in urban areas. Studies show that a lack of resources and physical activity-unfriendly communities discourage 60 minutes of daily activity, including strengthening exercises, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Using Social Ecological theory, the purpose of this study was to examine the multi-level influences of a yoga-based intervention on urban, inner city youth. Method: Using a mixed-methods design, ninety-three 3 -5 th grade students at five urban elementary schools participated in a ten-week yoga intervention. Analysis/Results: RM-ANOVA results revealed a significant reduction in stress and bullying behaviors among participants, and multiple regression analyses revealed that program attendance, change in stress, and change in yoga enjoyment significantly predicted change in yoga participation outside PE, when controlling for gender and age F(5, 87) = 5.36, p < 0.01, adj. R 2 = 0.19, but did not have a significant impact on physical activity participation outside of school. Student interviews and non-participant observations revealed strong enjoyment of yoga which led students to report substantial increases in yoga-related activities outside of school. Students also revealed that experience in yoga improved focus, attention, and reduced stress. Conclusions: Through convergence of qualitative and quantitative methods, this study showed a positive relationship between the number of yoga sessions attended (dose), enjoyment of yoga, and participation in yoga outside PE with friends and family. Findings suggest that urban PE should include more individual, non-competitive activities such as yoga, which students find to be stress-relieving, fun, inexpensive and easy to perform at home.

Physical activity interventions for the mental health of children: A systematic review

“…Most interventions delivered more than one type of PA. Seventeen included cardiovascular/aerobic exercise (e.g., Annesi et al, 2017), five included team sports (Adab et al, 2018;Bohnert & Ward, 2013;Faude et al, 2010;Seabra et al, 2014Seabra et al, , 2016, three included yoga (Bazzano et al, 2018;Centeio et al, 2017;Halliwell et al, 2018), two included age-appropriate resistance training (Annesi et al, 2008(Annesi et al, , 2009 and two included water-based activities (Sacher et al, 2010;Wong et al, 2016). Fifteen of the interventions were multicomponent and provided educational sessions on health (e.g., nutrition) (Adab et al, 2018), behaviour (e.g., team performance) (DeBate et al, 2009) or psychological topics (e.g., body image) (Bohnert & Ward, 2013).…”

Individual Resilience: A Major Protective Factor in Peer Bullying and Victimization of Elementary School Children in Israel

“…Eisenberg, Liew, and Pidada (2004) found further that inept emotional regulation was associated with breaking social norms, while Cassidy and Taylor (2005) reported that early development of inappropriate emotional regulation predicted increased aggressive behaviors in the future. Another study established the association of stress with anger, fighting and bullying behaviors among schoolchildren (Centeio, Whalen, Kulik, Thomas, & McCaughtry, 2015). The present study indicated that the generality of these findings might be culturally bounded, as the correlations of bullying and victimization with personality attributes differed in the two investigated ethnic groups.…”

A Yoga Program for Preschool Children in Head Start and Early Intervention: A Feasibility Study

“…Furthermore, the children with developmental and learning challenges receiving EI may require additional processing time and activity frequency to internalize and engage in behavioural repertoires within new activity routines. Additionally, the preschool is located in an underserved, urban neighbourhood which can be a stressful environment for children and may contribute to the children's motor and behavioural challenges [6,7,28]. Considering these potential challenges and stressors, a yoga program at higher frequency and duration with specific content to address social-emotional, behavioural and self-regulation concerns may be needed to promote positive outcomes.…”

“…Also, the overall yoga program attendance was less than expected but this was primarily due to school absence. Low school attendance may be a factor associated with the inner-city location of the preschool and the stressors and challenges families may face in getting their children to school [6,7,28,29]. We anticipate that because the yoga program was feasible, acceptable and enjoyable that perhaps the program may help promote school attendance, especially if families are included in the yoga sessions in the future.…”