The effect of meditation on physical and mental health in junior college students: a quasi-experimental study.


Author: Yang KP, Su WM, Huang CK. 

Affiliation: Cardinal Tien College of Healthcare and Management, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC. yang@ctcn.edu. tw
Conference/Journal: J Nurs Res
Date published: 2009 Dec
Other:
 Volume ID: 17   ,  Issue ID: 4   ,  Pages: 261-9   ,  Word Count: 249  
    BACKGROUND: Physical stress and mental stress are

increasingly common phenomena in our rapidly changing and stressful modern

society. Research has found meditation to produce positive and demonstrable

stress reduction effects on brain and immune functions. This study is grounded

in traditional Chinese philosophical mores that teach a process summarized by

the keynote activities of \"calm, still, quiet, consider, and get\" and

the potential of this process to reduce stress in adolescents. PURPOSE: The

purpose of this study was to examine the effects of meditation on the physical

and mental health of junior college students. METHODS: This research employed a

quasi-experimental design. Participants included 242 freshmen from a junior

college in Taiwan

selected using a convenience sampling technique. Participants were then

randomly separated into experimental (n = 119) and control (n = 123) groups.

The project duration was 18 weeks, during which the experimental group received

2 hours of meditation treatment per week, for a total of 36 hours. Both groups

completed pretest and posttest Life Adaptation Scale forms, which included

questionnaires addressing information on physical and mental distress and

positive and negative coping strategies. Data were analyzed using analysis of

covariance. RESULTS: Findings showed that the effect of the experiment

treatment was significant when student physical and mental distress pretest

scores were controlled. Physical and mental symptoms in the experimental group

were lower than those in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Meditation can help

students to adapt to life stressors. This study also provides support for

traditional Chinese wisdom, which promotes meditation as one way to improve

health.