Positive Health Online

Abstract

BUTZER and COLLEAGUES, 1. Department of Psychology, University of New York in Prague, Londýnská 41, 120 00, Praha 2, Prague, Czech Republic. ethany@bethanybutzer.com; 2. Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; 3. School of Social Work and Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA tested the efficacy of yoga for reducing substance use risk factors during early adolescence.

Background

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 behaviours.

Methodology

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

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.

Conclusion

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.

References

Butzer B1, LoRusso A2, Shin SH3, Khalsa SB2. Evaluation of Yoga for Preventing Adolescent Substance Use Risk Factors in a Middle School Setting: A Preliminary Group-Randomized Controlled Trial. J Youth Adolesc. 46(3):603-632. Mar  2017. doi: 10.1007/s10964-016-0513-3. Epub May 31 2016.