Yoga and Adolescent Psychological Health, Depressive Symptoms, and Flourishing
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University of Missouri, St. Louis IRL @ UMSL Dissertations UMSL Graduate Works 5-18-2015 Yoga and Adolescent Psychological Health, Depressive Symptoms, and Flourishing Erin Curran Schulte University of Missouri-St. Louis Follow this and additional works at: https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Schulte, Erin Curran, "Yoga and Adolescent Psychological Health, Depressive Symptoms, and Flourishing" (2015). Dissertations. 173. https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation/173 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the UMSL Graduate Works at IRL @ UMSL. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of IRL @ UMSL. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Yoga and Adolescent Psychological Health, Depressive Symptoms, and Flourishing Erin C. Schulte BA, Marquette University, 2005 MEd, University of Missouri–Saint Louis, 2008 A Dissertation Submitted to The Graduate School at the University of Missouri–St. Louis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Education with an emphasis in Educational Psychology May, 2015 Advisory Committee Marvin Berkowitz, PhD Chairperson Wolfgang Althof, PhD Natalie Bolton, PhD Brian Hutchison, PhD Copyright, Erin C. Schulte, 2015 Abstract The purpose of this concurrent mixed methods study was to investigate the potential of yoga to increase positive psychological health, decrease depressive symptoms, and increase flourishing in nonclinical high school students. Yoga was incorporated as part of a physical education (PE) course at a suburban high school with high school students (n = 27). Another section of the same course without yoga served as the control group (n = 38). Both groups completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CESD) Scale to measure depressive symptoms, the Flourishing Scale for Teens, and the Positive Emotion, Engagement, Positive Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment (PERMA) Profiler to measure flourishing rates to gather quantitative data. All three measures were given as a pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest. The qualitative data consisted of both groups answering open-ended questions about their wellness and experience in PE/yoga class at the same time that the students filled out quantitative questionnaires. In addition, five students from the yoga group were interviewed about their experiences three times throughout the semester separate from the other forms of data collection. A multivariate analysis of variance and analyses of covariance were run on the quantitative data to determine differences between groups on the quantitative data. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify key themes in the interviews and written answers. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed separately first and then they were analyzed together. iii No significant differences were found between groups on the quantitative measures, except that the yoga group was found to have significantly less depressive symptoms than the control group 5 months after the intervention. Qualitative results show that it is feasible to implement yoga during the school day; student depressive symptoms have the potential to be decreased through yoga by increasing relaxation, decreasing anxiety, increasing energy, and increasing self- confidence. Yoga has the potential to increase student flourishing through increased positive emotion, increased positive relationships, and an increased sense of accomplishment. Qualitative results also show that students noticed physical elements of yoga, such as improved strength, balance, and flexibility. Results are discussed separately and then together. Some of the quantitative and qualitative data on overall positive psychological health, depressive symptoms, and flourishing converged with the other form of data and some of it diverged from the other form of data. These aspects are discussed and potential reasons behind the convergent and divergent findings are noted. These results suggest that yoga has the potential to be useful to schools to address the adolescent depressive symptoms and flourishing. iv I dedicate this dissertation to my parents, Ray Schulte and Colleen-Curran Schulte. You have always taught me the value and importance of education. I can never repay you for loving me and supporting me even before I was born. I truly believe I hit the jackpot in the parent lottery! Thank you, thank you, thank you… from the bottom of my heart, thank you. I also dedicate this dissertation to my siblings, James Schulte and Caitlin Schulte. You are two of my best friends. I thank you for giving me someone to look up to my entire life. I have always wanted to be more like you. v Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge my committee, Dr. Marvin Berkowitz, Dr. Wolfgang Althof, Dr. Natalie Bolton, and Dr. Brian Hutchison. The time and energy you put into this dissertation helped make it what it is and helped me go beyond what I thought I was capable of doing. I would like to acknowledge Mr. Christopher Funk and Dr. Nathan Tyson. Thank you for your expertise and advice on the statistics of this project. You were so giving of your time when you did not have to be. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the staff and students at Southtown Yoga. Without your love, kindness, and unwavering support, this dissertation would not have been possible, and I would not be who I am today. vi Table of Contents LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE .......... 1 Depression............................................................................................................... 3 Positive Psychology .............................................................................................. 15 Yoga ...................................................................................................................... 26 Schools as Places to Promote Flourishing ............................................................ 39 Research Questions ............................................................................................... 39 Hypotheses ............................................................................................................ 40 CHAPTER 2: METHODS ................................................................................................ 42 Research Design.................................................................................................... 42 Sampling ............................................................................................................... 43 Sample................................................................................................................... 44 Procedure .............................................................................................................. 45 Data Collection ..................................................................................................... 48 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................ 54 Ethical Considerations .......................................................................................... 62 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS .................................................................................................. 65 Quantitative Results .............................................................................................. 66 Qualitative Results ................................................................................................ 76 Student Profiles ................................................................................................... 117 Written Responses .............................................................................................. 156 CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION .......................................................................................... 172 Study Summary ................................................................................................... 172 Findings............................................................................................................... 173 Integration of Findings With Literature .............................................................. 188 Implications of Findings ..................................................................................... 193 Limitations .......................................................................................................... 196 Future Directions ................................................................................................ 199 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 200 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 202 APPENDIX A: CES-D SCALE...................................................................................... 220 APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS.................................................................. 221 vii APPENDIX C: CODE BOOK ........................................................................................ 222 APPENDIX D: CONSENT FORM ................................................................................ 244 viii List of Tables Table Page 1 Demographic Data ...............................................................................................