Journal of Child and Adolescent Behavior
Open Access

Rapid Communication

Short-Term Meditation Intervention Improves Self-Regulation and Academic Performance

¹Department of Psychological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA

²Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78705, USA

³Capital University of Physical Education and Sports, Beijing 100191, China

⁴Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA

*Corresponding Author:

Yi-Yuan Tang
Department of Psychological Sciences
Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA
Tel: +1-806-834-8688
E-mail: yiyuan.tang@ttu.edu

Received Date: July 16, 2014; Accepted Date: August 12, 2014; Published Date: August 19, 2014

Citation: Tang YY, Tang R, Jiang C, Posner MI (2014) Short-Term Meditation Intervention Improves Self-Regulation and Academic Performance . J Child Adolesc Behav 2:154. doi:10.4172/2375-4494.1000154

Copyright: © 2014 Tang YY, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Background: Research has found that improved higher effortful control, a measure of self- regulation, improves performance of middle school students. Integrative body-mind training (IBMT) has been shown to improve attentional networks related to self-regulation. We hypothesize that an IBMT intervention will improve academic performance of adolescents. Methods: Students age 13-18 were recruited from middle and high school in Beijing, China and randomly assigned to either IBMT or a relaxation training control (RT). Students were given 6 weeks of IBMT intervention with 30 min per day at school. The improved performance in attention and aspects of academic performance were measured. Results: Compared to RT, IBMT intervention showed significantly greater improvement in attention and in academic performance (scores of literacy, math, and second language). Conclusions: Brief mindfulness meditation is an effective technique for improving cognitive function, including academic performance.