The Effectiveness of Yoga Education on the Aggression of Students with Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Yoga training on aggression of students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

The research method was semi-experimental, pre-test/post-test and two-month follow-up with the control groups. Statistical population of 60 male students 7-12 years old in Zahedan, who were referred to Counseling Centers in 2018-19 academic years and using the questionnaire of Children Symptom Inventory, Gado and Sprafkin1994؛ were screened. 40students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder who had high levels of aggression at the same time, after reviewing clinical interviews, selected by purposive sampling method  and randomly replaced into two experimental groups (20 students) and control group (20 students). The Bass & Perry Aggression Questionnaire (1992) and Yoga Training Program were taught to the experimental group for 16 sessions of 45 minutes in 8 weeks. Data were analyzed using mixed variance analysis with repeated measurements.

Results indicated that the effect of yoga training on general aggression (F = 21/24, P = 0.001), physical aggression (F = 13/70, P = 0.001), verbal aggression (F = 10.41, P = 0.001), Anger (F = 7.86, P = 0.008), and hostility (F = 5.43, P = 0.026) at the posttest stage, and this effect was sustained at follow-up.

The results showed the effect of yoga education on reducing aggression in patients with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. As a result, planning  to use yoga is essential in children, and therapists can use yoga to reduce aggression in children.