Are There Benefits from Teaching Yoga at Schools? A Systematic Review of Randomized Control Trials of Yoga-Based Interventions

Ferreira-Vorkapic, Camila; Feitoza, J. M.; Marchioro, Murilo; Simões, João Lindo; Kozasa, Elisa Harumi; Telles, Shirley

doi:10.1155/2015/345835

Cited by 69 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 54 publications

(80 reference statements)

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“…In a grade school study, a literature search revealed nine RCTs on yoga from the years 1982e2014 [13]. The results suggested that the grade school children experienced reduced tension and anxiety and improved self-esteem and mood following yoga.…”

Section: Grade School Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Yoga research review

Field

2016

Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice

136

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Section: Grade School Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Yoga research review

Field

2016

Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice

136

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Similarly, Ferreira‐Vorkapic et al . recently conducted a systematic review of randomized controlled trials of school‐based yoga interventions, in which they identified 48 published studies, nine of which were randomized controlled trials that met their inclusion criteria.…”

Section: Review Of Research On School‐based Yoga Interventionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Yoga in school settings: a research review

Khalsa

Butzer²

2016

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

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Research on the efficacy of yoga for improving mental, emotional, physical, and behavioral health characteristics in school settings is a recent but growing field of inquiry. This systematic review of research on school-based yoga interventions published in peer-reviewed journals offers a bibliometric analysis that identified 47 publications. The studies from these publications have been conducted primarily in the United States (n = 30) and India (n = 15) since 2005, with the majority of studies (n = 41) conducted from 2010 onward. About half of the publications were of studies at elementary schools; most (85%) were conducted within the school curriculum, and most (62%) also implemented a formal school-based yoga program. There was a high degree of variability in yoga intervention characteristics, including overall duration, and the number and duration of sessions. Most of these published research trials are preliminary in nature, with numerous study design limitations, including limited sample sizes (median = 74; range = 20-660) and relatively weak research designs (57% randomized controlled trials, 19% uncontrolled trials), as would be expected in an infant research field. Nevertheless, these publications suggest that yoga in the school setting is a viable and potentially efficacious strategy for improving child and adolescent health and therefore worthy of continued research.

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“…Yoga is being increasingly taught in school settings as a strategy to enhance student health, well-being, and performance (Butzer et al 2015), with systematic analyses (Ferreira-Vorkapic et al 2015; Serwacki and Cook-Cottone 2012) and narrative reviews (Butzer et al 2016; Khalsa and Butzer 2016) revealing preliminary evidence for the benefits of yoga in schools. For example, Khalsa and Butzer (2016) conducted a bibliometric analysis of research on school-based yoga programs and identified 47 studies, most of which reported beneficial effects of school-based yoga on student outcomes such as psychological well-being, academic performance, and health-related measures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Yoga for Preventing Adolescent Substance Use Risk Factors in a Middle School Setting: A Preliminary Group-Randomized Controlled Trial

Butzer

LoRusso

Shin

et al. 2016

J Youth Adolescence

102

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Adolescence is a key developmental period for preventing substance use initiation, however prevention programs solely providing educational information about the dangers of substance use rarely change adolescent substance use behaviors. Recent research suggests that mind–body practices such as yoga may have beneficial effects on several substance use risk factors, and that these practices may serve as promising interventions for preventing adolescent substance use. The primary aim of the present study was to test the efficacy of yoga for reducing substance use risk factors during early adolescence. Seventh-grade students in a public school were randomly assigned by classroom to receive either a 32-session yoga intervention (n = 117) in place of their regular physical education classes or to continue with physical-education-as-usual (n = 94). Participants (63.2 % female; 53.6 % White) completed pre- and post-intervention questionnaires assessing emotional self-regulation, perceived stress, mood impairment, impulsivity, substance use willingness, and actual substance use. Participants also completed questionnaires at 6-months and 1-year post-intervention. Results revealed that participants in the control condition were significantly more willing to try smoking cigarettes immediately post-intervention than participants in the yoga condition. Immediate pre- to post-intervention differences did not emerge for the remaining outcomes. However, long-term follow-up analyses revealed a pattern of delayed effects in which females in the yoga condition, and males in the control condition, demonstrated improvements in emotional self-control. The findings suggest that school-based yoga may have beneficial effects with regard to preventing males' and females' willingness to smoke cigarettes, as well as improving emotional self-control in females. However additional research is required, particularly with regard to the potential long-term effects of mind–body interventions in school settings. The present study contributes to the literature on adolescence by examining school-based yoga as a novel prevention program for substance use risk factors.

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Are There Benefits from Teaching Yoga at Schools? A Systematic Review of Randomized Control Trials of Yoga-Based Interventions

Cited by 69 publications

References 54 publications

Yoga research review

Yoga research review

Yoga in school settings: a research review

Evaluation of Yoga for Preventing Adolescent Substance Use Risk Factors in a Middle School Setting: A Preliminary Group-Randomized Controlled Trial

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