Effect of Prosody of Rhythmic Yoga-Based Recitation on Positive and Negative Affect among Adolescents: A Four-Armed Comparative Study

Abstract

Background: Adolescence is a critical period of maturation and immense emotional and behavioral changes. Yoga-based rhythmic recitations have been established to improve emotional personality features. Aim: The current four-arm comparative study attempted to appreciate the rhythmic recitations/prosody on Emotional personality among adolescents. Method: 138 adolescents (age 12.11 ± 0.76 years) satisfying inclusion and exclusion criteria were recruited and randomly allocated into four groups i.e., Humming the recitation following a Chanda (HR), Chanting a mantra (CM), Reading an English phrase, and Silent sitting, based on sections of their respective grades. Group intervention was done for 5 minutes, 3 times a day, for 30 days. According to their allocated group was provided. Subjects were assessed with positive and negative Affect Schedules (PANAS) at baseline and post-intervention. Result: There was no difference in both domains of PANAS in within group analysis. However, the positive affect was statistically significant when compared between the groups (p>0.01). A post-hoc analysis revealed the superiority of the CM and HM groups in positive affect alone when compared with other two groups. Conclusion: There was no statistical difference between CM and HM groups in both domains of PANAS. A humming prosody and mantra chanting demonstrated a similar effect on the amelioration of a positive Emotional personality among adolescents.

Keywords

• Rhythmic recitation
• Sanskrit Prosody
• Positive and Negative Affect
• Emotions
• Adolescence
• Psychology