Effects of Yoga As a Mindfulness-Based Intervention in the School Setting: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background and Purpose: Some research suggests that yoga as a mindfulness-based intervention (MBIs) can serve as protective or preventative role in maintaining mental health. With the increase use of MBIs in the school system, specifically the utilization of yoga as an MBI, an examination of its effectiveness is indicated. The purpose of this systematic review was to examine and synthesize evidence of the effects of yoga used as an MBI with primary and secondary school students on cognitive, behavior, and socioemotional outcomes to inform practice and policy.

Method: Systematic review methodology was employed to retrieve and analyze studies examining effects of yoga as an MBI with primary and secondary students. Meta-analytic methods were used to quantitatively synthesize outcomes. A comprehensive search strategy was implemented to locate published and unpublished studies. The search strategy included 13 electronic databases and research registers, websites of relevant government and university research centers, and reference lists of retrieved studies and related articles. Inclusion criteria included: (a) randomized or quasi-experimental design; (b) conducted/published between January 1990 and January 2016; (c) conducted in a public or private school setting (pre-K-12); (d) measured at least one of the following outcomes: cognitive, behavioral, socicoemotional (e) involved yoga as an MBI. Two of the authors independently coded all of the qualifying studies. Risk of bias was assessed using Cochrane’s Risk of Bias tool. Effects sizes were calculated (Hedges’ g) for each outcome of interest within each study. Meta-analysis, assuming random effects models, was used to quantitatively synthesize results across studies.

Results: Of the initial 1353 potential studies that were located, 1261 studies were excluded as duplicates or deemed inappropriate. The full text of the remaining 92 potential studies was reviewed and screened for eligibility. Of those, 19 studies (13 randomized control trials and 6 quasi-experimental designs) met inclusion criteria. Small and non-significant effects were found for cognitive outcomes (n = 5 studies; g = 0.24, 95% C.I. = -0.08, 0.56) and behavioral outcomes (n = 6 studies; g = 0.19, 95% C.I. = -0.15, 0.53). Small, statistically significant effects were found for socioemotional outcomes (n = 16 studies; g = 0.14, 95% C.I. = 0.04, 0.25). The homogeneity analysis indicated a moderate degree of heterogeneity for cognitive (I² = 45.76%; Q = 7.37, p = .12) and behavioral outcomes, and a small degree of heterogeneity (I² = 0.00%; Q = 8.03, p = .92).

Conclusions: Most students who utilize school social work services are referred for services due to behavior, cognitive, and socioemotional issues, thus identifying effective interventions that can be used by school social workers to address these issues with students in the school setting is important. Findings of this systematic review suggest mixed results of using yoga as an MBI across the outcomes of interest in this review, with finding favorable impacts of yoga on socioemotional outcomes but a lack of significant effects on cognitive and behavioral outcomes. Differential effects across these three outcomes will be examined, and implications for practice and policy will be discussed.