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Enhancing Life Skills through the practice of Yoga

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Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO, 1948) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Life skills which has been divided into three categories – social, thinking and emotional skills helps in promoting ‘health for all.’ Yoga through its practice helps towards physical, mental, social and spiritual well-being. The present paper looks at the integration of life skills and yoga in promoting health. Sampling comprises websites and systematic review of literature.Quantitative and qualitative data are analyzed through content analysis. The recent integrative trends and patterns are identified towards health promotion. Keywords: life skills, yoga, health, well-being, qualitative content analysis

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Mental Health Promotion among adolescents in schools using life skills education (LSE) and teachers as life skill educators is a novel idea. Implementation and impact of the NIMHANS model of life skills education program studied. The impact of the program is evaluated at the end of 1 year in 605 adolescents from two secondary schools in comparison to 423 age, sex, socioeconomic status-matched adolescents from nearby schools not in the program. The adolescents in the program had significantly better self-esteem (P=0.002), perceived adequate coping (P=0.000), better adjustment generally (P=0.000), specifically with teachers (P=0.000), in school (P=0.001), and prosocial behavior (P=0.001). There was no difference between the two groups in psychopathology (P - and adjustment at home and with peers (P=0.088 and 0.921). Randomly selected 100 life skill educator-teachers also perceived positive changes in the students in the program in class room behavior and interaction. LSE integrated into the school mental health program using available resources of schools and teachers is seen as an effective way of empowering adolescents.
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Dehumanization is defined as aggressive behaviors which offend people’s dignity. This phenomenon is a serious problem in medicine as it affects interpersonal relationships between medical professionals and patients, patients’ well-being, and the capability of following medical recommendations. There are a few factors determining dehumanizing behaviors: infrahumanization, perceiving patients as nonhuman beings, compassion fatigue, and stress. The main goal of this study was to examine the impact of stress on dehumanizing behaviors. A quasi-experimental survey was conducted in a group of 96 nurses. The following psychometric measures were employed in the study: scale of behavioral indicators of patient’s dehumanization (SBIPD), mood adjective checklist (UMACL), interpersonal reactivity index (IRI) assessing aspects of empathy, and the Eysenck personality traits (EPQ-R) questionnaires. Comparative inter-group analysis (experimental vs. control) confirmed that stress on the side of medical professionals influenced the acceptance of dehumanization; it particularly influenced the cognitive evaluations of patent dehumanizing behaviors. These evaluations have no relationship to empathy, neuroticism, and psychoticism in the control group. However, moderate correlation occurred between the patent dehumanization and neuroticism in the experimental group. The findings lead to the conclusion that stress experienced in the work setting can have an effect on dehumanizing practices in medicine. One of the best ways to combat dehumanization in medicine is to reduce stress by improving the work conditions.
Article
Background Burnout has become endemic in medicine, across all specialties and levels of training. Grit, defined as “perseverance and passion for long‐term goals,” attempts to quantify the ability to maintain sustained effort throughout an extended length of time. Our objective is to assess burnout and well‐being and examine their relationship with the character trait, grit, in emergency medicine (EM) residents. Methods In the fall of 2016, we conducted a multi‐center cross‐sectional survey at 5 large, urban, academically‐affiliated emergency departments. Residents were invited to anonymously provide responses to three validated survey instruments; the Short Grit Scale (Grit‐s), the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), and the World Health Organization‐5 Well‐being Index (WHO‐5). Results Two‐hundred and twenty‐two residents completed the survey (response rate = 86%). 173 residents (77.9%) met criteria for burnout and 107 residents (48.2%) met criteria for low well‐being. Residents meeting criteria for burnout and low well‐being had significantly lower mean grit scores than those that did not meet criteria. Residents with high grit scores had lower odds of experiencing burnout and low well‐being (OR 0.26, 95% CI‐0.46‐0.85 and OR 0.33, 95% CI=0.16‐0.72 respectively). Residents with low grit scores were more likely to experience burnout and more likely to have low well‐being (OR 6.17, 95% CI = 1.43‐26.64 and OR 2.76, 95% CI=1.31‐5.79 respectively). Conclusion A significant relationship exists between grit, burnout, and well‐being. Residents with high grit appear to be less likely to experience burnout and low well‐being while those with low grit are more likely to experience burnout and low well‐being. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Article
The positive evidences of life skills education among the young people in difficult circumstances have encouraged the researchers in imparting life skills education to the rescued devadasi adolescent girls in North Karnataka. The study was conducted in pre experimental research design without a control group of rescued devadasi girls by understanding their needs and gaps in life skills. The effectiveness of the programme was assessed using a standardized tool. 25 adolescent girls who were rescued from the devadasi system participated in the study. These girls were daughters’ of active devadasi women from Raichur, Koppal, Bellary and Bijapur. The girls were provided life skills education by the researchers. Intervention programme was developed based on the 10 life skills laid out by the World Health Organization after integrating methodologies and contents specific to their life situation after a need assessment study using Life skills assessment scale. The results analyzed in SPSS version 18, indicate that the programme was effective and displayed statistical significance in rendering the participants with Life skills. The study intends to highlight the importance of developing tailor made life skills programme for vulnerable groups and girls at risk.
Article
Introduction: The personality traits of emergency physicians are infrequently studied, though interest in physician wellness is increasing. The objective of this study is to acquire pilot data about the amount of grit, anxiety, and stress in emergency physicians using established psychological survey instruments, and to examine their associations of each of these traits with each other. Methods: Thirty-six emergency medicine resident and attending physicians from an urban academic medical center consented for enrollment. Participants were administered the Duckworth 12-point Grit Scale, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), which measure grit, anxiousness, and perceived stress, respectively. These are the gold standard psychological instruments for each of their areas. We analyzed the results with descriptive statistics, Spearman correlations, and linear regression. Results: Nineteen residents and 17 attending physicians completed the surveys during the first quarter of a new academic year. The mean grit score was 3.7 (95% CI 3.5-3.8, SD: 0.56), the mean trait-anxiety score was 32.61 (95% CI 30.15-35.07, SD: 7.26), and the mean PSS score was 12.28 (95% CI 10.58-13.97, SD: 4.99). Only trait-anxiety and perceived stress were significantly correlated (Spearman's rho: 0.70, p<0.01). Conclusions: In this pilot study at a single institution, emergency physicians demonstrated a range of grit, trait-anxiety, and perceived stress. Trait-anxiety and stress were strongly associated, and individuals who were more anxious reported more stress. Levels of grit were not associated with trait-anxiety. These psychological concepts should be studied further as they relate to the function and health of emergency medicine providers.
Article
Objective: The purpose of this study was to quantify grit, conscientiousness, and self-control in orthopaedic residency applicants and current orthopaedic surgery residents. As part of a continual reassessment of the selection process, this study will help to improve this process by assessing the introduction of these non-cognitive assessments. This is the first study to both evaluate and compare the applicants' scores to those of current residents. This introduction will allow selection of not only the current top performers but those who have the wherewithal (read grit) to sustain their efforts throughout their residency. Design: A cross-sectional study composed of a confidential electronic survey consisting of a 17-item Grit scale, 10-item Self-control scale, and 9-item Conscientiousness scale was completed by medical school applicants and orthopaedic residents. Setting: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hospital for Special Surgery. Participants: Fifty-six (100%) medical student applicants (mean age = 27) were invited to participate in our study following a full day of interviews. Forty-five residents (mean age = 31) were asked and 32 (72%) completed the same surveys 4 months later. Results: There was a significant difference in grit for medical students (M = 4.19, SD = 0.34) and residents (M =3.86, SD = 0.48); t(86) = 3.76, p = 0.000. All grit subscales were also significantly different for medical students versus residents. Medical students (conscientiousness M = 4.60, SD = 0.41; self-control M = 3.51, SD = 0.30) and residents (conscientiousness M = 4.42, SD = 0.53; self-control M = 3.31, SD = 0.73) scored similarly in the conscientiousness t(86) = 1.75, p = 0.084 and self-control scales t(86) = 1.74, p = 0.086. Academic performance indicators such as the USMLE scores and residency ranking were also compared among medical student applicants. Conclusions: The similar and above average levels of conscientiousness and self-control demonstrate the persevering nature of the individual who elects to pursue an orthopaedic residency program. Although the grit levels were different between medical school student and residents, they were above average for both groups, again demonstrating the type of individual willing to pursue an orthopaedic residency program. This study was the first to demonstrate varying degrees of grit for high-performing students versus residents in a competitive program, which seems to suggest that grit can vary over time. Future studies will investigate the validity of these non-cognitive variables in predicting achievement prospectively in a residency program.
Article
Background: Grit, a measure of perseverance, has been shown to predict resident well-being. In this study we assess the relationship between grit and attrition. Methods: We collected survey data from residents in a single institution over two consecutive years. All residents in general surgery were invited to participate (N = 115). Grit and psychological well-being were assessed using validated measures. Risk of attrition was measured using survey items. Results: 73 residents participated (63% response rate). Grit was positively correlated with general psychological well-being (r = 0.30, p < 0.05) and inversely correlated with depression (r = -0.25, p < 0.05) and risk of attrition (r = -0.37, p < 0.01). In regression analyses, grit was positively predictive of well-being (B = 0.77, t = 2.96, p < 0.01) and negatively predictive of depression (B = -0.28 t = -2.74, p < 0.01) and attrition (B = -0.99, t = -2.53, p < 0.05). Conclusions: Attrition is a costly and disruptive problem in residency. Grit is a quick, reliable measure which appears to be predictive of attrition risk in this single-institution study.
Article
Background: Age-related cognitive decline is well documented across various aspects of cognitive function, including attention and processing speed, and lifestyle behaviors such as physical activity play an important role in preventing cognitive decline and maintaining or even improving cognitive function. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of an 8-week Hatha yoga intervention on attention and processing speed among older adults. Methods: Participants (n = 118; mean age, 62 ± 5.59) were randomly assigned to an 8-week Hatha yoga group or a stretching control group and completed cognitive assessments-Attention Network Task, Trail Making Test parts A and B, and Pattern Comparison Test-at baseline and after the 8-week intervention. Results: Analyses of covariance revealed significantly faster reaction times for the yoga group on the Attention Network Task's neutral, congruent, and incongruent conditions (p ≤ 0.04). The yoga intervention also improved participants' visuospatial and perceptual processing on the Trail Making Test part B (p = 0.002) and pattern comparison (p < 0.001) tests. Conclusions: These results suggest that yoga practice that includes postures, breathing, and meditative exercises lead to improved attentional and information processing abilities. Although the underlying mechanisms remain largely speculative, more systematic trials are needed to explore the extent of cognitive benefits and their neurobiological mechanisms.
Article
As higher education is changing to reach larger numbers of students via online modalities, the issue of student attrition and other measures of student success become increasingly important. While research has focused largely on undergraduate online students, less has been done in the area of online non-traditional doctoral student success, particularly from the student trait perspective. The concept of grit, passion and persistence for long-term goals, has been identified as an important element of the successful attainment of long-term goals. As doctoral education is a long-term goal the purpose of this study was to examine the impact of doctoral student grit scores on student success. Success was measured by examining current student GPA and other factors. Significant relationships were found between grit and current student GPA, grit and the average number of hours students spent on their program of study weekly, and grit and age. The results of this research maybe important for informing how doctoral education is structured and how students might be better prepared for doctoral work.
Article
Yoga had been reported to have shown the beneficial effects on different psycho-physiological variables. The present study aimed to assess the effect of yoga on the level of self-esteem in pre-adolescents school going children. Forty-four participants (from a school in Haridwar, India) ages ranged between 10 and 12 years (group mean ages 11.27 ± 0.82 years) were randomized to a yoga group and a control group. The yoga group practiced yoga (breathing techniques, postures and relaxation technique), for 35 minutes daily for six days a week for one month while the control group didn't receive any intervention. Self-esteem was assessed using the Indian adaptation of Battle's self-esteem inventory for children before and after one month of intervention. This was an experimental-control group study. Unpaired t-test was used to compare data recorded after one month. The yoga group showed a significant increase in the level of overall (p<0.05), general (p<0.01) and social self-esteem (p<0.01). Yoga improved the self-esteem level in pre-adolescent school children so same should be employed as part of school curriculum.
Article
The impact of cognitive factors on academic achievement is well documented. However, little is known about the mediating and moderating effects of non-cognitive, motivational and situational factors on academic achievement among nursing students. The aim of this study is to explore the direct and/or indirect effects of academic self-concept on academic achievement, and examine whether intrinsic motivation moderates the negative effect of test anxiety on academic achievement. This descriptive-correlational study was carried out on a convenience sample of 170 undergraduate nursing students, in an academic college in northern Israel. Academic motivation, academic self-concept and test anxiety scales were used as measuring instruments. Bootstrapping with resampling strategies was used for testing multiple mediators' model and examining the moderator effect. A higher self-concept was found to be directly related to greater academic achievement. Test anxiety and intrinsic motivation were found to be significant mediators in the relationship between self-concept and academic achievement. In addition, intrinsic motivation significantly moderated the negative effect of test anxiety on academic achievement. The results suggested that institutions should pay more attention to the enhancement of motivational factors (e.g., self-concept and motivation) and alleviate the negative impact of situational factors (e.g., test anxiety) when offering psycho-educational interventions designed to improve nursing students' academic achievements. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Article
The well-being of residents in general surgery is an important factor in their success within training programs. Consequently, it is important to identify individuals at risk for burnout and low levels of well-being as early as possible. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that resident well-being may be related to grit, a psychological factor defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals. One hundred forty-one residents across 9 surgical specialties at 1 academic medical center were surveyed; the response rate was 84%. Perseverance was measured using the Short Grit Scale. Resident well-being was measured with (1) burnout using the Maslach Burnout Inventory and (2) psychological well-being using the Dupuy Psychological General Well-Being Scale. Grit was predictive of later psychological well-being both as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory (B = -.20, P = .05) and as measured by the Psychological General Well-Being Scale (B = .27, P < .01). Measuring grit may identify those who are at greatest risk for poor psychological well-being in the future. These residents may benefit from counseling to provide support and improve coping skills.
Article
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of yoga on atrial fibrillation (AF) burden, quality of life (QoL), depression, and anxiety scores. Background: Yoga is known to have significant benefit on cardiovascular health. The effect of yoga in reducing AF burden is unknown. Methods: This single-center, pre-post study enrolled patients with symptomatic paroxysmal AF with an initial 3-month noninterventional observation period followed by twice-weekly 60-min yoga training for next 3 months. AF episodes during the control and study periods as well as SF-36, Zung self-rated anxiety, and Zung self-rated depression scores at baseline, before, and after the study phase were assessed. Results: Yoga training reduced symptomatic AF episodes (3.8 ± 3 vs. 2.1 ± 2.6, p < 0.001), symptomatic non-AF episodes (2.9 ± 3.4 vs. 1.4 ± 2.0; p < 0.001), asymptomatic AF episodes (0.12 ± 0.44 vs. 0.04 ± 0.20; p < 0.001), and depression and anxiety (p < 0.001), and improved the QoL parameters of physical functioning, general health, vitality, social functioning, and mental health domains on SF-36 (p = 0.017, p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p = 0.019, and p < 0.001, respectively). There was significant decrease in heart rate, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure before and after yoga (p < 0.001). Conclusions: In patients with paroxysmal AF, yoga improves symptoms, arrhythmia burden, heart rate, blood pressure, anxiety and depression scores, and several domains of QoL.
Article
Context: It is now known that resident doctors registered for postgraduate studies are prone to work related stress and eventual burnout. Though stress can happen in any profession, reduced performance of resident doctors due to vocational stress could cause an increase in medical errors and thus affect the quality of life of the patients. Resident doctors at a Municipal hospital in India form a unique population as number of stresses they undergo are many and varied. Aims: To study the prevalence of work-related stress and its anticipated solutions among the resident doctors registered for postgraduate studies in clinical subjects at a tertiary Municipal hospital. Settings and design: A stratified sampling cross-sectional survey was conducted at the Inpatient, Outpatient, and Intensive Care Units at a tertiary Municipal hospital in Mumbai, India. Material and methods: Data collection was done using a validated 20-point questionnaire to assess the factors causing stress and their anticipated solutions. Statistical analysis: Simple percentage analysis of stress questionnaire. Results: 71 resident doctors completed the survey. The major stressors in this cohort were inadequate hostel/quarter facilities (92.1%), and the need to perform extra duties (80.0%). Also, non-conducive environment for clinical training and studies (81.7%), inadequate study (78.9%) and break (81.2%), threat from deadly infections (74.6%), and overburdening with work (69.0%) were the other major stress causing factors. The perceived stress busters were good music (40.8%) and family and friends (40.8%). Eighty-seven percent of the respondents perceived regular physical exercise to be an effective mode of stress management and 83.8% expressed their need to have a simple therapeutic gymnasium established within the campus with a qualified trainer. Conclusions: There is a high level of work related stress among the resident doctors registered for postgraduate clinical studies at a tertiary Municipal hospital in Mumbai. One of the perceived stress busters is regular physical exercise that is structured and under supervision.
Article
Women who experienced abuse as children or adults can suffer from symptoms such as dissociations, physiological regulation difficulties, and mood disturbances that might not respond to traditional interventions. Given the benefits of yoga, we hypothesized that yoga practice would ameliorate the negative impact of abuse on psychological functioning. Our findings suggest that frequent yoga practice might ameliorate the negative impact of abuse history on self-concept and coping skills. In addition, our findings suggest that women who incorporate yoga into other areas of life could get the greatest psychological benefits. Given the preliminary nature of this study, further research into the benefits of yoga on women who have child or adult abuse histories is warranted.
Article
In 2004, when WHO organized a workshop on children's sensitivity to electromagnetic fields, very few studies on radiofrequency fields were available. With the recent increase in mobile phone use among children and adolescents, WHO has identified studies on health effects in this age-group as a high priority research area. There are no empirical data supporting the notion that children and adolescents are more susceptible to RF exposure, but the number of studies is still relatively small. There are a few cross-sectional studies on well-being, cognitive effects and behavioral problems, and some cohort studies, mainly of maternal use of mobile phones during pregnancy. Cancer outcomes have been studied in relation to environmental RF exposure, e.g. from transmitters, and only one study on mobile phone use in children and adolescents and brain tumor risk has been published. Several methodological limitations need to be taken into consideration when interpreting the findings of the epidemiological studies. The cross-sectional design does not allow determination of the temporal sequence of exposure and outcome, and for several outcomes there is a large potential for reversed causality, i.e. that the outcome causes an increased RF exposure rather than the opposite. Biases such as recall errors in self-reported mobile phone use, lack of confounding control, e.g. of other aspects of mobile phone use than RF fields, trained behaviors, and pubertal development, makes causal interpretations impossible. Future studies need to include prospectively collected exposure information, incident outcomes, and proper confounding control. Monitoring of brain tumor incidence trends is strongly recommended.
Article
The present cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2007 to December 2008 in four medical colleges and associated hospitals of Delhi. Study subjects comprised 930 resident doctors. The overall prevalence of stress was found to be 32.8% in resident doctors from all colleges. Out of 930 resident doctors, 165 (17.7%) had mild stress, 113 (12.2%) had moderate stress, and 27 (2.9%) were severely stressed. Important reasons of stress as perceived by the study subjects included long duty hours, departmental academic activities, financial constraints, family and emotional problems in the decreasing order of preference. Important factors significantly associated with stress-included existence of children, year of residency, type of department, and presence or absence of job satisfaction, having close friends, spending time with family/friends, and place of graduation. In the multivariate model, year of residency, giving time to family and or friends, having close friends during residency, job satisfaction, and state of graduation came out as predictors of stress.
Article
To investigate the effect of two yoga-based relaxation techniques, namely, cyclic meditation (CM) and supine rest (SR), using the six letter cancellation task (SLCT). The subjects consisted of 208 school students, (132 boys, 76 girls) in the age range of 13 - 16 years. The subjects were assessed on SLCT before and immediately after both yoga-based relaxation techniques. After both practices, the total and net scores were significantly increased, although the magnitude of change was more after CM than after SR in the net scores (14.5 versus 11.31%). The net score change in the CM session was significantly larger than the change in the SR, whereas, there was no significant change in the wrong cancellation score. After either practice, the total and net scores were significantly increased, irrespective of gender and age. Both CM and SR led to improvement in performance, as assessed by SLCT, but the change caused by CM was larger than SR.