INTRODUCTION:

“The children of today are the future of tomorrow”, this powerful statement assumes special significance in our context as children (0-14 years) comprise one third of the total population in the country. Most of us probably think that childhood is a time when children are free, having no worries or responsibilities; but studies revealed that so many children experience extreme stress and have similar symptoms as those of adults.

But children do not have the means or the skills to understand and manage their stress in proper way. It will affect the students concentration and school performance.¹A school based study was conducted to find out the prevalence of stress among 667 children aged from 4-17 years in Kerala. The results indicated98.1% -moderate stress; 1.9% -severe stress; 1.79% - under normal. More than 97% of the children above 10 years showed above average stress. Most of the children with severe stress were observed at the age of 14².

Yoga for children is an absolute need. It can help the child to achieve balance in their young lives. Almost every children experiences stress with homework; pressure to compete with other children as well as non-stop after-school activities. Yoga comprises meditation, pranayama, asanas and so on. Meditation is the feeling of happiness, fulfillment, contentment and peace. Pranayama, is the control of vital energy via steady breathing. Asanas are body positions in which one remains steady and comfortable both physically and mentally for a desired length of time without strain.³ A true experimental study was conducted at Jalandhar, Punjab among adolescents. The objective of the study was to assess the effectiveness of yoga therapy on academic performance in relation to stress. Yoga therapy administrated on experimental group for seven weeks. The results showed that the students, who practiced yoga performed better in academics.⁴ The comparative study was conducted at Jamshedpur among high school students. The sample size of the study was 51 students selected randomly. The control group was received physical education and experimental group was given yoga therapy. The aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness of yoga therapy on stress and mood problems. Result showed that Teens taking yoga classes had better scores .Negative emotions also worsened in students taking regular physical education classes, while improving in those taking yoga⁵

Owing to the experience of the researcher, students are experiencing a lot of stress not only related to the academic performances but also due to the pressure from other external reasons. Because of this, they are in a drastic situation and they can’t concentrate in their studies. As today’s young buds are the coming leaders of the nation, they are in a great need to reduce the prevalent stress and improve their concentration. The problem of lack of concentration and stress can be solved by doing yoga every day.

OBJECTIVES:

· Assess the stress before and after yoga therapy on both experimental and control group

· Assess the concentration before and after yoga therapy on both experimental and control group

· Determine the effectiveness of yoga therapy on stress and concentration among students.

· Find the association between the baseline stress and concentration with selected demographic variables

HYPOTHESES:

· H₁ – The mean post test stress score of students in experimental group, after yoga therapy is significantly lower than the mean post test stress score of the students in control group.

· H₂ – The mean post test concentration score of students in the experimental group is significantly higher than the mean post test concentration score of students in the control group.

· H₃ –There is significant association between stress and selected demographic variables.

· H₄ –There is significant association between concentration and selected demographic variables.

METERIAL AND METHODE:

Research approach - Quantitative research approach

Research design - True experimental design.

R O 1 E X O 2 E

R O 1 O 2 C

Where

E - Experimental group

C -Control group

R - Randomization

O1 - Pre test

O2 - Post test

X - Intervention

RO1E=Assessment of stress and concentration level in the experimental group before the intervention

X = Intervention (yoga therapy)

O2 E =Assessment of stress and concentration level in the experimental group

30 days after the intervention

RO1C and O2C =Assessment of stress and concentration level in the control group at two points of time period (Simultaneously with the experimental and control group)

Population:

Population of this study includes all high school students in Kerala.

Research Settings:

The study is conducted in Holy Trinity High School, Trithwamala and St. Peter’s High School, kookampalayam which were the institutions located within 7 kilometres in the rural area of Palakkad district following state syllabus [Malayalam],having almost similar infrastructure and functional characteristics.

Sample and Sampling Techniques:

Sample consists of high school students from 8th to 10th standard at Palakkad. Among the 60 selected students 30 were selected in experimental group and 30 in control group who were fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Simple random sampling technique with lottery method was adopted in this study.

Variables:

The extraneous variables are age, gender, education, birth order, type of the family, living status of the parents, previous exposure of the yoga and the academicals exams conducted during the study. Administration of yoga therapy was the independent variable and stress and concentration among students was the dependent variable.

Tools and its description:

Socio demographic proforma:

This section comprises the variables like age, gender, religion, education, type of family, living status of the father, living status of the mother and previous exposure in Yoga.

Perceived Stress scale:(developed by Sheldon Cohen):

It measures the degree to which situations in one’s life over the past month are appraised as stressful. In this study it is used to assess the stress level among students and it include 10 item self-report instruments with a five-point scale:

(0 = never, 1 = almost never, 2 =sometimes, 3 = fairly often, 4 = very often.)

The stress score is interpreted as-Low stress - 0-12 ,Medium stress - 13-20, Severe stress - >20

Concentration Sub Scale of Study Skills Inventory:

(Developed by Dennis H. Congos) The scale of concentration consists of 10 statements with five point scale. Almost Always = 5, More than 1/2 of the time = 4 about 1/2 of the time = 3, Less than1/2 of the time = 2 and Almost never = 1.

The concentration score interpreted as-Medium concentration - < 35, High concentration - ≥ 35 The reliability was established by Cranach’s alpha method by the authors. The 10 item self-report instruments (Perceived Stress Scale) have established reliability (r=0.85). And Study Skills Inventory have established reliability (r=0.89) which showed that the tools are reliable.

CONCEPTUAL FRAME WORK:

Modified conceptual frame work based on general system model of Ludwing Von Bertalanffy (1968)

PILOT STUDY:

After obtaining the permission from the concerned authorities’ pilot study was conducted in St. Joseph’s high school Kalamassery and St. Joseph’s high school Thrikkakara from 21/11/2012 to 18/12/2012.

DATA COLLECTION PROCESS:

The researcher obtained a written permission from the concerned authority of the institution, prior to the data collection. The data collection period was from 1/1/2013 to 8/2/2013.The researcher prepared the separate sample frame comprising of 250 students from each schools. Samples for the study were selected by simple random sampling via lottery method. 30 samples randomly selected from Holy Trinity High School, Thrithwamala was the experimental group and 30 samples randomly selected from St. Peters High School Kookampalayam was the control group. The researcher met the participants and explained about the purpose of the study. They were assured that all the data would be kept confidential and would be used only for the study purpose. Informed consent was obtained from the participants. Pre test was conducted for both experimental and control group on the same day in the morning and afternoon respectively. Yoga protocol, previously prepared by the researcher was administered to the experimental group on the day of administration of pre test onwards. Post test was conducted using the same questionnaire for both experimental and control group after 30 days of intervention.

DATA ANALYSIS:

Data were analyzed using descriptive (frequencies and percentages) and inferential statistics (Independent t-test and Chi-square test).

RESULT:

Descriptive statistics-Sample characteristics:

The result of the study revealed that samples are comparatively almost similar on both control and experimental group with respect of demographic variable.

Table-1: Assessment of pre test and post test stress scores among both groups [n=60]

STRESS
Group	Mean	SD	Mean percentage
Control
Pre test Stress	18.9667	2.706	47.40%
Post test Stress	17.6	3.07	44%
Experimental
Pre test Stress	20.2333	3.45	50.50%
Post test Stress	15.4333	3.65	38.00%

Fig 2: Distribution of samples of experimental group according to level of stress before & after yoga therapy

Fig 3: Distribution of samples of control group according to level of stress before& after yoga therapy

Table-2: Assessment of pre test and post test concentration among both groups [n=60]

CONCENTRATION
Group	Mean	SD	Mean percentage
Control
Pre test Concentration	31.73	2.75	63.40%
Post test concentration	33.16	3.76
Experimental
Pre test concentration	31.3	4.26	62.60%
Post test Concentration	38.26	3.3	76.50%

Fig-4:Bar diagram shows the distribution of samples of experimental group according to level of concentration before and after yoga therapy

Fig.5Bar diagram shows the distribution of samples of control group according to level of concentration before& after yoga therapy

Table-3: Effectiveness of yoga therapy on stress and concentration among students (n=60)

	Variable	control group	Experi mental group	t value
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Stress	17.6	3.07	15.43	3.65	2.64^*
Concen tration	33.16	3.76	38.26	3.3	5.93^*

^*Significant at 0.05 level

Associations of baseline stress and concentration with selected demographic variables

Chi-square

There is no association between stress and concentration and selected demographic variables

DISCUSSION:

Assessment of stress before and after yoga therapy in both control group and experimental group:

It was found that there is difference in the mean pre test and post test scores of stress between the control and experimental group. The pre test mean stress score of control group (18.96) was lower than the experimental group (20.23). The post test mean stress score of control group (17.60) was higher than the experimental group (15.43).

A true experimental study was conducted at Jalandhar, Punjab among 800 adolescent students. The study was to assess the effectiveness of yoga therapy on academic performance in relation to stress. The results showed that the students, who practiced yoga reduced stress level and performed better in academics.⁶

Assessment of concentration before and after yoga therapy in both control group and experimental group:

It was found that there is a difference in the mean pre test and post test scores of concentration between the control and experimental group. The pre test mean concentration score of control group (31.73) was higher than the experimental group (31.30).And the post test mean concentration score of control group(33.16) was lower than the experimental group (38.26). Quasi experimental study. Eight public schools of Jalandhar (Punjab) Randomly sampling; 800 students in 9^th standard. Objective- assess the effect of yoga module (yoga asana, pranayama, meditation) on concentration. Result- students, who practiced yoga module yielded higher concentration levels.⁷

Effectiveness of yoga therapy on stress and concentration among students:

Third objective of the study was to determine the effectiveness of yoga therapy on stress and concentration among students it was found that there is a significant difference in the mean post test scores of stress and concentration between the control and experimental group, signifying the effectiveness yoga therapy at 0.05 level. In the stress, calculated ‘t’ value was (2.64) greater than t table value (t=2.00) at 0.05 level of significance (p<0.05) and in the concentration, calculated ‘t’ value was(5.93) greater than t table value (t=2.00) at 0.05 level of significance (p<0.05) . This shows there was effectiveness in the yoga therapy. These study findings are backed by a research study regarding the effect of yoga on students at Philadelphia. Quasi experimental study .To assess the effectiveness of yoga therapy on stress and behavior in students at risk for learning problems. 21 students who were selected randomly. Result showed that the yoga program helped the students feel calm, focused and to engage in classroom learning⁸

Association between baseline stress and concentration with selected demographic variables:

With this objective a research study was conducted among students. A comparative study 49 samples selected by using simple random sampling. Objective was to compare the effect of one (GES) school based on a yoga way of life on memory and concentration with (MES) on memory and concentration. Result showed that GES samples showed significant enhancement in memory and concentration than MES samples. An association between memory and concentration with age⁹.But in this study there is no significant association between base line stress and concentration with the demographic variables

IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY:

The findings of the study have certain important implications for the nursing profession such as in nursing practice, nursing education, nursing research and nursing administration.

Nursing practice:

· School health nursing practice is the extended role of nursing. So yoga therapy will promote the programme and mould the children effectively.

· Yoga therapy is the alternative medicine for physical and psychological illness. The art of nursing lies in the nursing practice, so the nurse can act as a yoga therapist, organizer, leader, educator, counsellor and motivator.

Nursing education:

· The nursing students are undergoing more and more stressful situation, because of various factors. So yoga therapy as a relaxation technique will help the samples to overcome the unhealthy situation.

· The students should get adequate exposure to learn and practice yoga .Separate hours must be allocated in the curriculum for practicing yoga

Nursing administration:

· Nursing administration should make arrangement for providing yoga programmes to the patients during their stay in the hospital

· Nurse administrators can bring awareness among public about the knowledge and practice of various yogic techniques to improve their health.

· Nursing administrators should make arrangement for providing yoga programmes to the staff nurses

· A separate yoga health programs with sufficient staff, materials & facilities like a yoga centre should be organized in collaboration with medical fraternity.

Nursing Research:

· This study helps the nurse researchers to develop appropriate protocol for

· giving yoga therapy.

· This study was only an initial intervention to find the effectiveness of yoga on stress and concentration. So there is a need for extended and intensive research in the different areas.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

· A study could be replicated on a larger sample.

· A similar study could be conducted for a longer duration.

· A comparative study can be conducted between yoga and other non pharmacological measures on stress like acupressure, reflexology etc.

· A similar study can be conducted among subjects of different age group.

· Follow up study can be conducted to assess the long term effect of the yoga therapy on stress and concentration.

· A similar study can be conducted among nursing students

REFERENCE:

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7. Mathew, B., 2006, Parental disciplinary practices on academic stress and mental Health among adolescent children. J. Psychol. Res., 50(2): 75-78.].

8. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. Yoga Improves Mood and Reduces Tension News wise Philadelphia [news paper online]2012 April4[cited2012may30];[about8screens].Availablefrom:http://www.newswise.com/articles/yoga-shows-psychological-benefits-for-high-school-students

9. R Rangan, HR Nagendra, and G Ramachandra Bhat. Effect of yogic education system and modern education system on memory. Department of Yoga Research, Shri Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (SVYASA), Bangalore, India Int J Yoga. 2009 Jul-Dec; 2(2): 55–61.

Received on 24.11.2016 Modified on 28.03.2017

Asian J. Nur. Edu. and Research.2017; 7(3): 299-304.

DOI: 10.5958/2349-2996.2017.00062.3