Stress, Coping, and Transcendental Meditation: A Proto-Theoretical Model and Pilot Study of Indigenous Peruvian Students in Home Isolation During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Journal of Latinos & Education February 2, 2025 Lee Fergusson, Javier Ortiz Cabrejos, Anna Bonshek
A proto-theoretical model of stress, psychophysiology, and coping explains adverse impacts on children in home isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as increased loneliness, anxiety, depression, and risk of psychiatric illness. In a study of 54 Aymara and Quechua children at a school in Puno, Peru, 98% reported that Transcendental Meditation beneficially affected their health and academic achievement. On a 1–10 scale, average ratings were 7.55 for physical health, 7 for cognitive health, 7.48 for emotional health, and 7.85 for academic achievement. Similar ratings were given for coping, learning, anxiety, depression, and optimism.