An intensive meditation course for incarcerated youth: Does it make a difference?

Incarcerated youth have disproportionately high morbidity and mortality. Prior research has demonstrated that meditation provides physical and mental health benefits to youth, as well as to incarcerated adults, however, no published studies examine whether these courses benefit incarcerated youth.

Objective: To assess if a one-day intensive and 10-week meditation course delivered by non-profit agency The Mind Body Awareness Project (MBA Project) enhance the well-being of participating incarcerated youth.

Methods: Incarcerated adolescent males in MBA Project's meditation course participated. Two cohorts received a 10-week meditation course plus one-day intensive meditation session (treatment, n=16) and two cohorts received 10-week course alone (controls, n=13). Focus groups were performed with participants of the one-day intensive session to evaluate youth's attitudes towards the intervention (n=6 and 6, ages 15-18). Results were transcribed and qualitative theme analysis was performed by a representative analysis team. Self-report surveys assessing validated psychometric items were completed pre and post-intervention.

Results: The following themes are representative of the youth's attitudes towards the intervention: expanded self-awareness, enhanced well-being, increased self-discipline, resistance to meditation, and social cohesiveness. Significantly higher well-being scores in self-regulation were observed for treatment and control groups combined and all measures changed in the psychologically enhancing direction. Comparison of changes in well-being between treatment and control groups did not reach statistical significance.

Conclusion: Implementation of meditation-based interventions for incarcerated youth may promote youth well-being in the short term, however, further studies are needed to ascertain the optimal dose of meditation and to assess the longer term impact of these courses.