CLINICAL RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Please note: All posters will be displayed in
Salons 10-12.
FRIDAY, 5:45-6:30 PM
Benn R, Rosaen C, Motyka B, Sen A.
A randomized control trial of Transcendental Meditation
(TM) on social-emotional outcomes and academic performance in middle
school students.
University of Michigan ritabenn@umich.edu
This study examined the effects of Transcendental
Meditation (TM) on social-emotional development and academic performance
in early adolescence. Meditation was hypothesized to increase positive
affect, decrease negative emotions and improve academic performance
in middle school students. Forty-four African-American fifth grade students
enrolled in a charter middle school were randomized into two groups.
One group of students was instructed in TM and subsequently practiced
meditation for 10 minutes, two times a day during the school day with
teachers and students in older grades. At the time of school- based
meditation, the control group of students remained in their classrooms
with their teachers and had assigned free time. Study participants completed
self-report survey scales that assessed emotional well-being, emotional
intelligence, anxiety and anger at baseline, three, nine and 15 months
post-instruction in meditation. Participants' grades for academic subjects
and study habits/ behaviors were coded from student records at semester
time points that closely paralleled study assessment intervals. Multiple
regression models were fitted to each outcome measure, controlling for
the main grouping variable (mediation or not) as well as all other covariates
of interest (e.g. free and reduced lunch, gender). For the 15-month
academic measures, a linear regression model with normal error was used,
and for non-academic measures, a repeated measures regression model
with normal error was employed with an exchangeable correlation structure.
Results of the analysis indicated that TM had an immediate
positive effect on the student well-being (p<.002). The difference was
prominent in the positive well-being subscale (p-value = 0.006), where
the TM-group scored significantly higher than the control group. The
difference between the two study arms, however, was only mildly significant
with respect to the negative well-being subscale (p-value = 0.064).
With respect to the total anxiety scale, there was a borderline significant
difference between the two study arms (p-value = 0.071), with the TM
students scoring lower than the controls. No other measures demonstrated
any significance differences between study arms. At the 15-month interval,
similar results occurred. In the repeated measures regression, the TM-group
scored significantly higher on well-being than the controls (p=0.02).
A mildly significant difference between study arms was also found (p=
0.06) with respect to one anxiety subscale, with the TM group yielding
lower overall anxiety scores. No other measures demonstrated any significance
differences between study arms.
This study demonstrates that TM practice in African
American students has a beneficial effect on emotional well-being that
continues to be maintained 15 months post-instruction. The salutatory
effect of TM may result from the increase in positive emotions rather
than decrease in negative emotions and/or maladaptive behaviors. At
this age, TM does not differentially affect academic semester grades.
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