There is a growing literature describing the stressful nature of
students' school experience. Previous research has found that
racial and ethnic minority groups are particularly subject to high
levels of stress due to exposure to violence, pressures due to
acculturation, and the schooling process. This is the first study to
evaluate effects of the Transcendental Meditation[R] program on
psychological distress across diverse racial and ethnic minority student
groups. A total of 106 secondary school students (68 meditating and 38
non-meditating students), who completed both baseline and 4-month
post-testing, were included. Results indicated reductions in
Transcendental Meditation students compared to controls in general
psychological distress and anxiety. Within-group effects on depressive
symptoms also were observed. Because of the association between
psychological distress and both adverse school performance and poor
physical and mental health outcomes, it is important for school
administrators to implement programs of stress reduction into their
schools.
Keywords: Transcendental Meditation, stress, psychological distress
**********
There is a growing literature describing the stressful nature of
students' school experience (Lowry, Cohen, Modzeleski, & Kann,
1999). Research has found a strong association between students'
experience of stress and years of schooling, with nearly 50% of
secondary school students reporting either psychological stress or
physical-stress related symptoms (Minnesota Department of Education,
2007). Other studies have linked psychological distress such as anxiety
and depression, to poor academic achievement, negative school behavior,
and adverse physical and mental health outcomes (e.g., Aluja &
Branch, 2004; Kiselica, Baker, Thomas, & Reedy, 1994; Schwarzer,
1990; Heinrich, 1979; Barnes, Bauza, Treiber, 2001; Barnes, Treiber,
& Davis, 2001; Suldo, Shaunessy, & Hardesty, 2008).
Socio-environmental and school stressors, including acculturation,
violence and academic troubles, are among factors that have impacted
students' levels of psychological distress and associated poor
academic performance (Thompson & Massat, 2005; Grannis, 1992). In
Hispanic students, difficulties in language and other socio-cultural
factors have contributed to lower self-efficacy and negative health
behaviors such as alcohol use, which have in turn poorly impacted
academic performance and graduation rates (Alva, 1995; Alva & Reyes,
1999; Close & Solberg, 2008; Willig, Harnisch, Hill, & Maehr,
1983). Studies on psychological distress in African American students
indicate that exposure to violence increases the risk for depression,
anger, disassociation, and post-trauma stress, as well as increasing
academic and behavioral problems (Hall, Cassidy & Stevenson, 2008;
Singer, Anglin, Song, & Lunghofer, 1995; Thompson & Massat,
2005). For American Indian students, conflicting cultural styles not
supported by the public schools (Costantino & St. Charles, 2000) is
a major factor contributing to feelings of anxiety, depression,
marginality and alienation, as well as heightened psychosomatic symptoms
and identity confusion (Williams & Berry, 1991).
Previous research has shown that psychological distress can be
decreased in other populations through the practice of the
Transcendental Meditation (TM) program. A meta-analysis of 146 studies
with adults by Eppley, Abrams, and Shear (1989) showed the effectiveness
of the Transcendental Meditation technique compared to other meditation
and stress reduction programs in reducing anxiety. Research has also
shown reductions in depressive symptoms and emotional distress
(Sheppard, Staggers, & John, 1997; Aron, Orme-Johnson, &
Brubaker, 1981).
Studies of Transcendental Meditation interventions in predominantly
African American secondary and middle school students have shown
decreased cardiovascular reactivity to stressful stimuli, lower rates of
school absenteeism, rule infractions and suspensions, and improved
emotional regulation and well-being (Barnes, Treiber, & Davis, 2001;
Barnes, Bauza, & Davis, 2001; Rosaen & Benn, 2006). However,
this is the first study to compare the Transcendental Meditation program
to controls in a racially and ethnically diverse student sample.
Method
Subjects
A total of 106 secondary school students (68 meditating and 38
non-meditating students), who completed both pre- and post-testing, were
included in this study. Students came from four public secondary
schools, located in Connecticut, South Dakota, and Arizona. The
Connecticut school was located in an urban setting, with a large African
American student population. The South Dakota school served primarily
American Indian secondary school students in a rural setting. The two
Arizona schools, both alternative schools in the same metropolitan
school district, served primarily Hispanic students. Overall, 87% of the
students were from minority groups with the three largest groups being
Hispanic (26%), African American (25%), and American Indian (19%).
In each of the schools, students volunteered to participate in the
Transcendental Meditation program during their Quiet Time periods or
elected to engage in other quiet activities in their seat such as
resting, sitting quietly, reading, or working on homework. During the
4-month study period, controls did not learn to practice the
Transcendental Meditation program.
The Transcendental Meditation Program
Students were taught the Transcendental Meditation technique in a
standard seven-step course and then practiced twice a day at school for
10-15 minutes as part of their daily Quiet Time program. They were also
encouraged to practice their meditation program at home on weekends.
Students participated on a voluntary basis at no cost.
Transcendental Meditation is a simple, natural, effortless
technique that allows the mind to experience finer levels of the
thinking process until the mind transcends and experiences the source of
thought, the simplest form of human awareness, described as the Unified
Field of Natural Law (Roth, 1987). Overall, Transcendental Meditation
produces a profound state of "restful alertness" with a more
integrated style of brain functioning (Travis, Tecce, Arenander, &
Wallace, 2002; Hebert, Lehmann, Tan, Travis & Arenander, 2005).
Students as young as age 10 can be instructed in the standard
7-step Transcendental Meditation program and are able to successfully
practice in an effortless manner (Nidich & Nidich, 1990). The
20-minute adult practice time is adjusted for adolescents, with
secondary school students practicing for 10-15 minutes morning and
afternoon.
At the four school sites, the Transcendental Meditation program was
taught to students by certified teachers, all following the same
standardized procedures for teaching. After initial introductory,
preparatory lectures and a brief personal interview with the teacher,
students then participated in an individual personal instruction session
(about an hour), followed by group meetings to verify the correctness of
practice and to provide additional knowledge about the practice over the
next three consecutive days (about an hour each day). Students then
practiced their meditation program in school at the beginning and end of
each day, supervised by a classroom teacher or Transcendental Meditation
instructor. Written parental permission was required prior to
students' learning the program.
Measures
Outcome measures were administered prior to experimental group
students learning the Transcendental Meditation program and again after
approximately four months.
Psychological distress, or negative affect, was measured using the
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) emotional symptoms scale.
The SDQ self-report measure uses a 3-point (0-2) response scale, with
five items comprising the emotional symptoms scale (Goodman, Meltzer,
& Baily, 2003). The SDQ was developed from the well-established
British Rutter scales first as a behavioral screening measure completed
by parents and teachers about children, and more recently as a
self-report measure. The self-report measure has been shown to perform
as well as the third-person report in differentiating troubled from
normal teens (Goodman, Meltzer, & Baily, 2003). The student
self-report SDQ is highly correlated with the Youth Self Report (YSR)
(Koskelainen, Sourander, & Kaljonen, 2001).
The Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children was used
to measure student stress levels (Spielberger, Edwards, Lushene,
Montuori, & Platzek, 1973). This questionnaire entitled "How I
Feel" asks students to respond to 20 items, based on a three-point
response scale. Only the trait anxiety scale, which assesses general
anxiety level, was administered.
The Mental Health Inventory (MHI)-5 was used to assess overall
mental health and depressive symptoms (Arroyo, 2004). The MHI-5 is taken
from the Short-Form (SF)-36, employing a 6-point (1-6) response scale
(Ware, Kosinski, & Gandek, 1993). The MHI-5 has been found to have
high sensitivity and specificity for detecting depression (Berwick,
Murphy, Goldman, Ware, Barsky, & Weinstein 1991) and has been shown
to have similar predictive value as the Center for Epidemiological
Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale (Shaw, Treglia, Motheral, & Coons,
2000).
Statistical Analysis
Changes in outcome variables were analyzed using two (treatment
group: experimental/ control) x four (ethnicity: Hispanic, African
American, American Indian, other) multivariate analysis of variance
(MANOVA). All p values were reported as two-tailed.
Results
Baseline characteristics of the experimental and control groups are
reported in Table 1. No significant differences between groups were
observed. Overall students in the study had an average age of 16.60
years with 48% being male. Eighty-seven percent of the students were
racial or ethnic minority students.
Results of the two (treatment group) x four (ethnicity group)
MANOVA showed a significant improvement in study outcomes for the
Transcendental Meditation group compared to controls over four months (p
= 0.037). In terms of the specific study outcomes, significant
reductions were found for Transcendental Meditation students compared to
controls in SDQ emotional symptoms [F(1,97) = 6.94, p = 0.010] and trait
anxiety [F(1,98) = 4.53, p = 0.035]. Change in MHI-5 was in the
predicted direction but not statistically significant [F(1,97) = 0.74, p
= 0.392] (see Table 2). There were no treatment-by-ethnicity interaction
effects on any of the outcome variables. Across ethnic groups there were
no significant differences found on any of the outcome variables.
Within-group analysis among Transcendental Meditation students
showed significant improvement in SDQ emotional symptoms (M = -1.26 [+
or -] 2.10; t(66) = -4.93, p < .001), trait anxiety (M = -4.91 [+ or
-] 6.73); t(67) = -6.01, p < .001, and MHI-5 depression (M = +1.76 [+
or -] 4.60); t(66) = 3.13, p =.003). Within the control group there was
a decrease in trait anxiety (M = -2.42 [+ or -] 4.61); t(37) = -3.24, p
= .003).
Discussion
The results of this study indicated that practice of the
Transcendental Meditation program is effective in reducing psychological
distress in racial and ethnic minority secondary school students. The
main findings of the study showed significant reductions in the
Transcendental Meditation group compared to controls in SDQ emotional
symptoms and trait anxiety. There were no treatment-by-ethnicity
interactions, indicating that the results were consistent across ethnic
groups.
Within-group changes were found among Transcendental Meditation
students in SDQ emotional symptoms, anxiety, and depressive symptoms.
Within the control group, there was a significant reduction in anxiety.
Anecdotally it has been reported by administrators and teachers that the
students' group practice of the Transcendental Meditation program
not only has a calming effect on the students doing the practice twice a
day at school but also has a positive effect on the other non-meditating
students and the school environment as a whole.
It has been suggested that the Transcendental Meditation program
reduces psychological distress by favorably impacting neuroendocrine,
(MacLean et al., 1997; Walton et al., 2004), autonomic, and other
neurophysiologic (Travis, 2001) parameters. Maclean (MacLean et al.,
1997) and colleagues demonstrated reductions in serum cortisol levels (a
stress hormone) in meditators compared to a stress education control
group, while Travis (Travis, 2001) documented higher EEG brainwave
integration and coherence, which is, associated with reduced stress
reactivity. The technique thus offers a holistic, pragmatic and
effective tool to combat stress related symptoms. (Anderson et al.,
2008)
Strengths and Limitations
This study employed a quasi-experimental design to determine
whether practice of the Transcendental Meditation program could result
in decreased psychological distress factors in public secondary schools
students. Between-group analyses showed improvement in general
psychological distress and trait anxiety, with no significant
group-by-ethnicity interactions over four months. Future research on
student stress-related factors is encouraged to look at longer-term
effects of the practice and larger student samples within a single
school. Because students' practice of the Transcendental Meditation
program during Quiet Time may have had a salutary influence on other
students, including the controls in this study, it is recommended that
other student controls be considered in future studies, including
non-meditating students from other schools within the same or similar
school district. In addition, future research with larger numbers of
subjects in specific racial and ethnic samples is encouraged.
Implications
Practice of the Transcendental Meditation program was found to be
effective in reducing psychological distress in public secondary school
students. This is the first study to show effects of the Transcendental
Meditation program with a racial and ethnically diverse group of
students, including Hispanic, African American, and American Indian
students. Previous research has found that these minority groups are
particularly subject to high levels of stress due to exposure to
violence, pressures due to acculturation, and the schooling process.
Because psychological distress impacts student behavior and school
performance (Alva & Reyes, 1999; Close & Solberg, 2008;
Kiselica, Baker, Thomas, & Reedy, 1994; Barnes, Bauza, Treiber,
2001), it is important for school administrators to implement programs
of stress reduction into their schools to combat the adverse effects of
socio-environmental factors.
In addition to school behavior and performance, decreased
psychological distress in school children has important health
implications. Stress levels are linked to hypertension and
cardiovascular risk, which are major causes of morbidity and mortality,
especially among minority populations.(Liao et al., 2004) Similarly,
stress levels have been linked to obesity, with both human and animal
studies suggesting that chronic stress increases the intake of energy-
and nutrient-dense foods and consequently the development of visceral
obesity. (Epel et al., 2001; Torres & Nowson, 2007; Gluck, 2006) Two
recent reviews suggest that chronic stress activates the
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic nervous
system (SNS), resulting in the accumulation of visceral fat and related
health problems (e.g., type 2 diabetes, cardiometabolic complications).
(Adam & Epel, 2007; Kyrou & Tsigos, 2009) The findings suggest
that Transcendental Meditation instruction for adolescent students may
potentially improve not only educational outcomes, but also long-term
physical and mental health.
Acknowledgements:
Research was supported by the David Lynch Foundation and other
private donors. Portions of this paper were presented to the Society of
Behavioral Medicine Annual Meeting, March 2008. The authors wish to
thank Kent Hyde, Lynn Kaplan, GeneAshworth, Pat Robinson, and Laura
Alcorn for their help in the study. [R]Transcendental Meditation and TM
are service marks registered in the US patent and trademark office,
licensed to Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation and used
under sublicense.
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Table 1
Demographic and Baseline Variables by Group
Transcendental
Variables Meditation Control Group
(n=68) (n=38)
Age (years) 16.48 1.27 16.79 1.26
Gender (% male) 33 (48.5%) 18 (47.3%)
Ethnicity % 6291.1% 30 (78.9%)
African American 18 9
Hispanic 22 6
American Indian 12 9
White 6 8
Other 10 6
SDQ Psychological Distress 3.61 2.44 2.76 2.29
Trait Anxiety 36.37 8.47 34.02 6.52
MHI-5 20.38 4.46 22.07 4.46
All p values > .05
Higher MHI-5 scores indicates more positive mental health and less
depressive symptoms
Table 2
Mean Changes in Outcome Variables Comparing Transcendental
Meditation to Controls
Transcendental
Variables Meditation Control Group Effect
Mean SD Mean SD Size
SDQ Psychological Distress -1.30 ** 2.10 -0.14 2.12 .51
Trait Anxiety -4.91 * 6.73 -2.15 4.61 .42
MHI-5
* p <.05; ** p <.01