Journal of Traumatic Stress
Volume 27, Issue 1, 2014, Pages 112-115

Significant Reductions in Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Congolese Refugees Within 10 days of Transcendental Meditation Practice (Article)

Rees B.* , Travis F. , Shapiro D. , Chant R.
  • a Medical Corps, U.S. Army Reserve, 63d Regional Support Command, Moffett Field, CA, United States
  • b Center for Brain, Consciousness and Cognition, MUM Research Institute, Fairfield, IA, United States
  • c Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy, Fairfield, IA, United States
  • d MUM Netherlands, Station 24, Vlodrop, Netherlands

Abstract

This follow-up pilot study tested whether Transcendental Meditation® (TM) practice would significantly reduce symptoms of posttraumatic stress in Congolese refugees within 10 days after instruction. The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian (PCL-C) was administered to nonmatched waitlist controls from a previous study 3 times over a 90-day period. Within 8 days of the third baseline measure, 11 refugees were taught TM, then retested 10 days and 30 days after instruction. Average PCL-C scores dropped 29.9 points from 77.9 to 48.0 in 10 days, then dropped another 12.7 points to 35.3 at 30 days. Effect size at 10 days was high (d = 4.05). There were no adverse events. All participants completed the study and were able to practice TM. Copyright © 2014 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.

Author Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Index Keywords

refugee psychological aspect Follow-Up Studies follow up human Refugees Congo ethnology meditation Uganda Humans Treatment Outcome pilot study psychological rating scale Psychiatric Status Rating Scales Article posttraumatic stress disorder Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic Pilot Projects
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84893543838&doi=10.1002%2fjts.21883&partnerID=40&md5=9c99581c8ef61ff52b2b76adbf850cce
DOI: 10.1002/jts.21883
ISSN: 08949867
Cited by: 10
Original Language: English