ERIC Number: EJ1471093
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-1099-839X
Available Date: 0000-00-00
A Comparative Study of Health, School Performance and Well-Being in Perúvian School Children and Adolescents Who Meditate
Lee Fergusson; Javier Ortiz Cabrejos; Anna Bonshek
Current Issues in Education, v26 n1 2025
Our prior research with Indigenous school children and adolescents in Perú, often in remote high-altitude Andean locations, mostly centers on an exploration of health and school performance and their relation to the practice of Transcendental Meditation, a natural and easy-to-learn technique for mental and physiological rest and stress reduction. We have established that higher levels of health and school performance are associated with regularity of meditation practice. However, most attempts to identify a causal link between the two have been deferred until more reliable data become available. The present cross-sectional study seeks to build on these earlier findings in three ways: first, we have expanded the variable range from health and school performance to include personal well-being as a measure of holistic student development; second, we compare educational outcomes at three new schools in Cusco, Huancayo, and Acomayo (N = 248) with normative data (N = 610) from five other schools in Perú and with sample international educational settings; and third, using multiple linear regression, we endeavor to establish preliminary evidence of a possible causal link between the regularity with which students practice Transcendental Meditation (y) and physical health, cognitive health, emotional health, school performance, and personal well-being (x). The preliminary results mainly support, and in some cases strengthen, our earlier findings about the relationship of Transcendental Meditation to health and school performance, and now include results for personal well-being. We conclude that controlled, longitudinal research on meditation, health, and well-being may be warranted in primary and secondary school settings in Perú.
Descriptors: Metacognition, Academic Achievement, Foreign Countries, Correlation, Well Being, Physiology, Stress Management, Relaxation Training, Holistic Approach, Outcomes of Education, Comparative Analysis, Attribution Theory, Elementary Secondary Education
Arizona State University, Mary Lou Fulton Institute and Graduate School of Education. Deans Office, P.O. Box 870211 Payne 108, Tempe, AZ 85287. Tel: 480-965-3306; Fax: 480-965-6231; e-mail: cie@asu.edu; Web site: https://cie.asu.edu/ojs/index.php/cieatasu
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Peru
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A