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Anxiety is the most common psychiatric issue facing children and adolescents. An estimated 10-17% of community samples and up to 45% of children in mental health clinics are affected. Due to legislation, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, and increasing concerns for the mental health and well-being of school-age children, the development and expansion of school-based mental health services has grown. Educators, related service professionals, and communities realize that children are most accessible, and often most comfortable, in the school setting. As a result of a growing demand for school-based mental health services, there is a call for increasing the availability of evidence-based interventions. Yoga interventions are widely used with child and adolescent populations, and they are intuitively well-suited to address the psychosocial needs of children in a simple, fun, and cost-effective manner. Through increased body awareness and the provision of coping strategies, yoga interventions may address both the physiologic and psychological experiences of anxiety. However, there is a need for systematic examination and appraisal of current yoga research for children, additional well-controlled studies of yoga, and an increase in understanding the processes of change as a result of yoga.The objective of this dissertation is to 1) consolidate and systematically appraise the rigor of current yoga research for anxiety among youth, 2) determine the effectiveness of a school-based yoga program for anxious youth, and 3) elucidate important constructs, such as social validity and participant perspectives, through both quantitative and qualitative methods. Results from Chapter 2: A Systematic Review of Yoga Interventions for Anxiety Among Children and Youth, conclude that yoga interventions show positive effects in reducing anxiety across a variety of populations and meet criteria for a probably efficacious treatment. However, due to limitations (such as heterogeneity in populations, measures, and frequency/durations) there is a need for additional well-controlled, randomized trials, which include physiologic and psychological measures and long-term follow up. Results from Chapter 3: The Effectiveness of a School-Based Yoga Program for Anxious Youth, suggest improvements across measures of anxiety, self-regulation, and adaptive skills for the yoga group, as compared to the exercise group. However no statistically significant results were observed. Further study is needed to establish the effectiveness of the Move-Into-Learning for Anxiety program (MIL-A). Results from Chapter 4: Social Validity and Participant Perspectives of a School-Based Yoga Program for Anxious Youth, conclude that student and teacher perceptions of the MIL-A program are positive and support improved outcomes among anxious children. Social validity results show that teachers and students viewed MIL-A as valuable, feasible, and a moderately effective modality for improving anxiety related variables. |
