Potential Application of Yoga-Preksha-Meditation to Prevent Stress-Induced Anger in Healthy Adults - A Pilot Study
Shweta Sharma, Khushbu Jain, Ajay Kumar Sharma, Vijay Kalia, Viney Jain
International Journal of Medicine and Public Health November 27, 2020 DOI: 10.5530/ijmedph.2020.4.44 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Single-arm pre-post intervention study Longitudinal Pilot study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 50 |
| Population | Healthy adults recruited from 7-day residential Preksha-Meditation training camps |
| Intervention | Preksha-Meditation |
| Duration | 7-day residential training camps; pre- and post-intervention measurements |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 3 |
| Key points | Perceived stress and anger were positively correlated, and both were negatively correlated with quality of life. After Preksha-Meditation, average perceived stress and anger scores declined significantly, and stress-anger reactivity was reduced in 70% of participants, with men showing larger reductions and better quality of life. The authors conclude the training is a feasible, cost-effective approach to reducing stress-induced anger, pending larger longitudinal studies. |
Abstract
Background: Responses to perceived-stress trigger toxic emotions of anger.Uncontrolled anger outburst enhances aggressiveness, disrupts personal relationships and social harmony; impairing quality of life.Development of cost-effective preventive strategies to reduce levels of stress, anger and violence is vital for public health.Objectives: To (i) quantitatively investigate relationships between perceived-stress, anger and quality of life; (ii) identify vulnerable individuals using stress-anger reactivity and (iii) explore the effectiveness of Preksha-Meditation practice as a preventive strategy.Methods: In a single-arm pre-and postintervention study, healthy adults recruited from 7-day residential Preksha-Meditation training camps were administered Preksha-Meditation.Pre-and post-intervention levels of variables, measured by validated and reliable self-report questionnaires, from 50 subjects could be analyzed and compared using t-test.Results: Despite heterogeneous scores, perceivedstress and anger correlated positively.Quality of life correlated negatively with both stress and anger.Assessment of individual's stress-anger reactivity can identify vulnerable persons who develop uncontrollable anger.Post Preksha-Meditation, average scores of perceivedstress and anger declined significantly.Stress-anger-reactivity was reduced in majority (70%) of subjects, indicating enhancement of coping capacities.Interestingly, males displayed larger reductions in levels of perceived-stress-anger and in stress-anger reactivity leading to better quality of life.Conclusion: Intense PM training in short-term retreats is a feasible and costeffective approach to reduce stress-induced anger.Comprehensive longitudinal studies on larger samples to verify and extend the present preliminary findings are warranted before undertaking large-scale applications to prevent increased domestic violence during stressful events, like infectious disease pandemics.