Yoga as Mindful Movement: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Browse trials for

• Developmental Disabilities 230

Keywords

• Yoga
• Mindfulness
• Developmental Disability
• Children
• Early Elementary School

Developmental Disabilities

230 studies on the registry are indexed under Developmental Disabilities; 65 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 47 is below the median of 60 across 150 interventional studies indexed under Developmental Disabilities.

Lead sponsor

University at Buffalo is the lead sponsor of 76 studies on the registry; none are open to participants now.

Of its 7 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 6 (86%) have results posted.

Eligibility criteria

Study arms

• Experimental
  Yoga as Mindful Movement

  Behavioral: Yoga as Mindful Movement

• Active comparator
  Adapted Physical Education

  Behavioral: Adapted Physical Education

Interventions

• BehavioralYoga as Mindful Movement

  YMM is an 8-week hybrid (in-person and virtual) school-based mindful yoga program (modified from its original 10-week, in-person design due to complications of COVID-19) informed by the teachings of Radiant Child Yoga. It was designed to teach students about self regulation through the integration of movement, breath, and present-moment awareness. It was delivered in the form of three, 30-minute YMM sessions each week by the same instructor-an individual with training and experience as an occupational therapist and yoga teacher through the Yoga Alliance and Radiant Child Yoga.

• BehavioralAdapted Physical Education

  Adapted PE took place daily (Monday-Friday) for one hour and consisted of lessons on movement skills such as catching, throwing, aiming, running, jumping, skating, and dancing through various activities and games.

Primary outcomes

1. Movement Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition

   The Movement Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition measures children's motor performance in physical tasks (e.g., threading beads, catching a ball, walking heel-to-toe) through direct observation. Quantifiable criteria (e.g., task completion time, number of successful attempts, number of errors) is measured.

   Time frame: From pre-enrollment (2 weeks before 8-week intervention) to post-enrollment (2 weeks after intervention's conclusion).

2. Devereux Student Strengths Assessment-Mini

   This questionnaire asks assessors (classroom instructional staff) to rate how often a student displays certain behaviors (e.g., taking an active role in learning, making a suggestion or request in a polite way) in the past four weeks that correspond to social-emotional, cognitive, and interpersonal skills. Behaviors are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (Never) to 4 (Very Frequently). A higher score indicates more social-emotional competence.

   Time frame: From pre-enrollment (2 weeks before 8-week intervention) to post-enrollment (2 weeks after intervention's conclusion).

3. Child Behavior Rating Scale

   The Child Behavior Rating Scale asks classroom instructional staff to indicate how often each student exhibits certain behaviors (e.g., returning to an unfinished task after interruption, attempting new challenging tasks) over the past week. This was completed using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Never) to 5 (Always), with a higher score indicating positive behavior.

   Time frame: From pre-enrollment (2 weeks before 8-week intervention) to post-enrollment (2 weeks after intervention's conclusion).

4. Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders-Revised (HTKS-R) modified for Neurodiverse Learners (HTNL)

   Time frame: From pre-enrollment (2 weeks before 8-week intervention) to post-enrollment (2 weeks after intervention's conclusion).

Secondary outcomes

1. Classroom Observations

   Post-YMM (or adapted PE) session classroom observations of participants' behavior were conducted by two members of the research team who were masked to study conditions and not part of the school's instructional staff. Behaviors in nine categories (i.e., disrupting one's own or others' learning activity, demonstrating aggression toward staff or peers, engaging in a task, being prompted by an adult, affect, and wearing or not wearing a face mask-required due to COVID-19) were tracked and coded quantitatively. During each 30-minute observation block, three students per classroom were observed twice in 5-minute increments, for a total of 10 minutes each. This structure was implemented to capture potential variations in students' behavior over time. Because most classrooms had six students, the remaining three students were observed in the same manner the next time an observer visited the classroom.

   Time frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No — Individual Participant Data (IPD) will not be shared due to concerns about participant privacy and limitations in the informed consent that prevent broader data sharing.