Effects of School-Based Meditation Courses on Self-Reflection, Academic Attention, and Subjective Well-Being in South Korean Middle School Students.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of school-based meditation courses on middle school students' self-reflection, academic attention (ability to focus in classrooms), and subjective well-being. DESIGN AND METHODS: The research design was a nonequivalent group comparison (n = 163) with pretest and post-test. The experimental group (n = 81) was given an eight-week meditation course and the control group (n = 82) was given other elective courses such as calligraphy and reading. RESULTS: The experimental group showed significant increases in self-reflection (t = 2.536, p = .012) and academic attention (t = 2.767, p = .006), but subjective well-being did not increase significantly (t = 0.906, p = .367). Life satisfaction was the only subcomponent of subjective well-being that increased significantly (t = 2.438, p = .016); the other subjective well-being subcomponents did not show any significant changes. CONCLUSIONS: Self-reflection and academic attention significantly increased in middle school students after an eight-week meditation course. Even though changes in subjective well-being were not significant, one of its subcomponents (life satisfaction) did show significant improvement. Self-reflection and subjective well-being were shown to be influential factors for academic attention (48.5% of the variance explained). PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: This study is meaningful in that it examined positive benefits of a meditation course in middle school students and explored the feasibility of such a course in a school system.

The Effects of Mind Subtraction Meditation on Depression, Social Anxiety, Aggression, and Salivary Cortisol Levels of Elementary School Children in South Korea.

This study analyzed the effects of a school-based mind subtraction meditation program on depression, social anxiety, aggression, and salivary cortisol levels of 42 elementary school children in South Korea. The research design was a nonequivalent group comparison with pretest and post-test. The experimental group was given 8weeks of the meditation program. The results showed social anxiety, aggression, and salivary cortisol levels were significantly lowered in the experimental group. This demonstrated that the school-based mind subtraction meditation program could be effective in improving psychosocial and behavioral aspects of mental health in elementary school children.

Factors Affecting Adolescents' Involvement in Cyberbullying: What Divides the 20% from the 80%?

Despite some variations among cyberbullying studies, about 20% of the youth population surveyed appears to be involved in cyberbullying. Coincidentally, the current study found that exactly 20% of the students surveyed were involved in cyberbullying as bullies (7.8%), victims (7.5%), and bully/victims (4.7%). What divides those 20% from the 80% of noninvolved students? This study aimed to produce a parsimonious and accurate model that can predict the occurrence of involvement in cyberbullying among youth. Data were collected from a questionnaire survey administered to 1,036 students enrolled in secondary schools in South Korea. Stepwise logistic regression (SLR) was carried out to predict the dichotomous dependent variable (involved/noninvolved) with 10 independent variables grouped into three categories: (a) demographic, (b) media-related, and (c) school and psychology factors. The result of the SLR analysis yielded a four-step model including the variables of cyber-confidence, weekday game time, mobile activities, and age as being significant in explaining the 20/80 division (model χ(2)=34.306, df=4, p<0.001, Nagelkerke R(2)=0.071). This finding suggests that younger students who spend more time playing games on weekdays while being more confident in cyberspace and active in using mobile phones are more likely to be involved in cyberbullying than other students. In particular, the construct of cyber-confidence calls for further elaboration and research, given its controversial function with respect to adolescents' involvement in cyberbullying. Also, this study may bring about insights into practical considerations needed for concerned researchers, teachers, and parents to identify who is inside the group involved in cyberbullying so as to help the participating adolescents escape from the circle of cyberbullying.