Consistent with studies for the relevance of physical activities including yoga, there has been considerable attention to this therapeutic intervention among students challenged by mental problems. Regular activities or exercises are advocated by many due to perceived long-term value on health. Incorporating modest exercises in life generally have great potential to impact mental wellness.
In various studies, results confirm that the advantages of exercise affect moods, behavioral and mental disorders significantly (Frank et al., 2017). The research in the article by Frank et al. (2017) was conducted to determine how a school-based yoga program impacted students’ mental wellness and performance. The central aim of the research was to find the effectiveness of the therapeutic intervention. In this process, the knowledge gap on the usefulness of exercises in improving behavioral problems at the school level. The paper’s aim is to provide a commentary on the research.
Study Method and Findings
The study employed a randomized controlled trial (RCT) as an intervention to determine how a yoga-based school approach on emotions and mental wellness program called Transformative life skill (TLS) was impactful. In the exercise, about 159 participants were recruited to an intervention comparison conditions. Participants comprised sixth and ninth-grade students in diverse middle schools in a high-poverty region within the urban center of California. In this community, there is a racial composition of African American, white, Asian, Latino, and mixed background. Other factors that were used as treatment comparison included gender, social status, such as living in single-parents, two-parents, and relatives’ homes.
The results showed that participants in the wellness program (TLS) revealed a significant decline in detentions or unexcused absence and advances in school engagement. Moreover, positive changes in primary engagement were identified in stress coping approaches. Students’ emotional control, positive thoughts, and cognitive restructuring on stress were observed. The results were consistent with the study hypothesis on meaningful changes in school engagement. However, observed effects of the intervention program varied in size on outcomes such as medium to large. Suggestively, the TLS may have strong potential when adopted as a universal strategy to promote positive school behavior and commitment (Frank et al., 2017). The acceptability rating of the program also pointed that student participants vowed the intervention positively and are feasible to use in middle or high school-aged adolescents.
Commentary on the Significance of Results
The central focus of the research was to validate the effectiveness of a yoga-based program. In regard to this focus, therapists and mental health service providers have trained on the Yoga technique of mental calmness for many years, which turned to benefit most clients (Xu et al., 2021). Various assessments and research on the implementations of the yoga approach on social-emotional wellness indicate findings such as stress reduction, behavioral support, and attention (Feuerborn & Gueldner, 2019). Classroom teachers inform that implementing yoga creates a sense of community; the approach brings students together and encourages interconnectedness (Fakhary Nejad et al., 2019). Ideally, it is through that process that individuals feel positive about themselves, and social interactions that lead to positive behavioral regulation are enhanced. As such, these results imply the need for increased school-based yoga interventions in modern society. Studies suggested that yoga intervention approaches have numerous positive effects on students’ performance, behavior, and psychological health.
The study shows a significant strength in how school-based yoga can help youth to manage emotions and behaviors. By training learners on how to pay attention to the relationship between the mind and body, a school-based yoga program does positively notice the impacts of stress on health. According to Tecuta et al. (2020), students can recognize that they tend to gravitate towards unhealthy practices such as eating when they are in a low mood. The awareness brought forth by the intervention from the research leads to behavior changes. For example, students can choose to do a breath-taking exercise for few minutes to relax and option for healthy habits. Thus, the study of yoga primarily supports these ideas and reinforces approaches in the abnormal psychology field.
Moreover, another positive intervention identified in the study improved self-regulation. Self-regulation refers to people’s ability to manage stress, behaviors, and emotions at its broad level. Both psychological and neuroscientific studies assert that yoga and other physical interventions such as meditation help young people manage stress and mood (Tecuta et al., 2020). Through the school-based yoga approach, the central tenet is that there is the calmness of flight response and induces a relaxation response. With that, children with social-behavioral problems would become less reactive when confronted by challenging situations. Instead of lashing out in anger while interacting with others in the playground, young people would learn to take a deep breath and walk away. Furthermore, this research shows that there is a cultivation of physical fitness. Yoga is mindfulness in motion that makes the body aware of the present (Fakhary Nejad et al., 2019). Given that a large population of adolescents in school is considerably overweight, school-based intervention such as therapy informs by Frank et al. (2017) promotes the development of physical fitness.
Findings in the research on the effectiveness of the school-based yoga program have significant implications of informing the best intervention towards social behaviors in students. According to Frank et al. l. (2017), the TLS program showed a reduction in negative behaviors such as absenteeism and suspension rate due to misconduct. The most immediate effect of the intervention is student engagement, which could inform why the suspension rate was observed to be low. The prolonged exposure to therapy impacted change in behaviors positively.
A notable finding from the research show positive impacts of the yoga program (TLS) on students’ stress coping techniques. According to Frank et al. (2017), TLS significantly improved youth’s emotion regulation abilities and positive thinking. Essentially, emotional regulation is an area of interest for many theorists and researchers, focusing on adolescent studies in the past years. Normally, emotional regulation skills are believed to be influenced by a wide range of body systems, including physical, behavioral, cognitive, and social aspects. The study by Frank et al. (2017) confirms the relevance of the physical system in this aspect. In the past, emotion dysregulation has led to various adverse outcomes related to self-injury, depression, eating disorders, drug or alcohol abuse in adolescents.
On the contrary, the study in the article advances the field of abnormal psychology that focuses on mental health problems to provide insights into emotional dysregulation management. According to emotion-based theories such as physiological and cognitive models, the emotional problem is a leading factor of mental disorders such as depression. The cognitive issue is prevalent to people who are unable to manage their emotional experience effectively. As a solution to the problem that plagues specialists in the abnormal psychology field, yoga is a popular and comparatively inexpensive approach that most schools can integrate. Relying on this technique in the curriculum to address students’ self-regulatory skills needs is effective, as shown by the study. Significant results are noted in relation to impulse control, anger management, and reduction in negative feelings.
Unlike other interventions adopted in schools, such as physical exercise (PE) control, yoga-based intervention is more advanced as it focuses on the connection between the body and mind. The learning standards for physical education have focused on knowledge building and skills while maintaining fitness by participating in common games such as football or baseball. New studies reveal that the correlation between body awareness and emotion regulation is imperative, and this is achieved with a simple practice such as yoga, emphasizing engagement. Moreover, adolescents contend with a wide range of physical and physiological changes while developing a sense of self and identities with their bodies (Kobylińska et al., 2018). Thus, the school-based yoga program (TLS) proves relevant to help build an understanding of body and mind function in young people.
In summary, this paper has provided a commentary on the study about the effectiveness of school-based yoga programs to intervene in young people’s mental health. Based on studies, behavioral issues such as violence, antisocial problems, use of drugs or alcohol are common among adolescents in their development stage. Such factors can be a significant barrier to education achievements due to perceived disengagement in school. Traditional approaches applied in abnormal psychology have long emphasized interventions, including counseling and other engagement approaches such as PE. However, the study presented in the main article suggests an advanced intervention that helps with awareness of body and mind.
References
Fakhary Nejad, S., Mojtabaie, M., & Mirhashemi, M. (2019). Comparison of the effectiveness of yoga training with emotion regulation training on students’ working memory and cognitive flexibility.Iranian journal of Learning and Memory, 2(7), 33-41. Web.
Feuerborn, L. L., & Gueldner, B. (2019). Mindfulness and social-emotional competencies: Proposing connections through a review of the research.Mindfulness, 10(9), 1707-1720. Web.
Frank, J. L., Kohler, K., Peal, A., & Bose, B. (2017). Effectiveness of a school-based yoga program on adolescent mental health and school performance: Findings from a randomized controlled trial. Mindfulness, 8(3), 544-553. Web.
Kobylińska, D., Lewczuk, K., Marchlewska, M., & Pietraszek, A. (2018). For body and mind: practicing yoga and emotion regulation. Social Psychological Bulletin, 13(1), 1-21. Web.
Tecuta, L., Fava, G. A., & Tomba, E. (2020). An innovative approach for the assessment of mood disturbances in patients with eating disorders. CNS spectrums, 25(1), 71-78. Web.
Xu, W., Kumar, I. R., & Srinivasan, T. M. (2021). Evaluation of impact of ethics of yoga in the psychological health of college students: A randomized control trial. Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 14(12), 999-1005. Web.