Improve Physiological Responses to Stress in Schools with Mind-Body Practices

 

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

 

“Mindfulness exercises have been shown to help students reduce stress and anxiety, gain conscious control over behaviors and attitudes, and improve focus.” – Robin L. Flanigan

 

In the modern world education is a key for success. Where a high school education was sufficient in previous generations, a college degree is now required to succeed in the new knowledge-based economies. There is a lot of pressure on students to excel so that they can get into the best schools and ultimately the best jobs. As a result, parents and students are constantly looking for ways to improve student performance in school. The primary tactic has been to pressure the student and clear away routine tasks and chores so that the student can focus on their studies. But, this might in fact be counterproductive as the increased pressure can actually lead to stress, depression, and anxiety which can impede the student’s mental health, well-being, and school performance.

 

It is, for the most part, beyond the ability of the individual to change the environment to reduce stress, so it is important that methods be found to reduce the students’ responses to stress; to make them more resilient when high levels of stress occur. Mind-body practices including meditation, mindfulness training, and yoga practice have been shown to reduce the psychological and physiological responses to stress. There is accumulating evidence of the effectiveness of mind-body practices on the students’ stress levels. So, it makes sense to summarize what has been learned.

 

In today’s Research News article “Mind-Body Physical Activity Interventions and Stress-Related Physiological Markers in Educational Settings: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7795448/ ) Strehli and colleagues review, summarize, and perform a meta-analysis of the published research studies on the ability of mind-body practices to lower physiological indicators of stress in schools. They included studies involving elementary school, high school, and college students.

 

They identified 26 published studies, 80% of which were yoga based. They report that the published research found that the mind-body practices resulted in significant decreases in heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and stress hormone (cortisol) levels. These effects were stronger for the college students and less so for high school and elementary school children.

 

The results suggest that mind-body practices reduce the physiological indicators of stress in school children and adolescents. This fits with previous findings with a variety of groups that mindfulness practices reduce the physiological responses to stress. This is thought to result from increases in balance in the autonomic nervous system. Regardless the published research literature suggests that mind-body practices are beneficial for school students, particularly college students, reducing their levels of stress.

 

So, improve physiological responses to stress in schools with mind-body practices.

 

“Students who engage in mindful movement activities can see a multitude of benefits, including increased strength and energy, better posture, reduced stress and improved attentiveness, self-confidence, self-awareness and self-care habits. Mind-body exercises also provide ways to build and strengthen relationships with others.” – Accredited Schools Online

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

 

Study Summary

 

Strehli, I., Burns, R. D., Bai, Y., Ziegenfuss, D. H., Block, M. E., & Brusseau, T. A. (2020). Mind-Body Physical Activity Interventions and Stress-Related Physiological Markers in Educational Settings: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(1), 224. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18010224

 

Abstract

Mind–Body Physical Activity (MBPA) in educational settings is one possible preventive strategy for ameliorating stress-related physiological health parameters. The objectives of this study were to conduct a systematic review of the literature with meta-analyses on the effects of MBPA on stress-related physiological health markers in primary, secondary, and higher education students. In accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, the search for peer-reviewed articles published in English was conducted in PubMed, EBSCOhost, PsychInfo, Scopus, and Cochrane Library databases. Criteria for inclusion consisted of empirical studies targeting the student population (primary, secondary, higher education), studies examining the effectiveness of an MBPA intervention, studies including a control or comparison group (pre-test/post-test studies excluded), studies targeting physiological marker outcomes such as heart rate, blood glucose, cortisol, and blood pressure, and finally, studies examining interventions implemented within educational settings. Twenty-six interventions were eligible for the review and quantitative synthesis, which comprised a total of 1625 participants, with 783 students serving within the control/comparison group. There were statistically significant and large pooled effects for MBPA effectiveness for lowering heart rate (Hedges’ g = −1.71, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): −2.43, −0.98), cortisol (Hedges’ g = −1.32, 95% CI: −2.50, −0.16), and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (Hedges’ g = −1.04, 95% CI: −1.53, −0.58). These effects tended to be stronger in older students compared to younger students. Most analyses were characterized as having high heterogeneity and only 10 of the 26 studies were characterized as good quality (38.4%). MBPA interventions may have a positive impact on specific physiological health markers in students, especially in students within higher education. However, higher-quality research is needed in this area.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7795448/