Impact of Sanskrit prosody on anxiety, mindfulness, and self-concept in young adolescents

Abstract

Background: Upsurge in anxiety and struggle with self-concept commonly appears during adolescence. Chanting of many forms have been established to improve emotional personality features. Aim and Objectives: We conducted a four-armed comparative study to explore the capacity of Chanda/prosody to impact anxiety, mindfulness, and self-concept in young adolescents. Material and Methods: A total of 140 students (12.12 ± 0.74 years) were screened, out of which 138 met the inclusion criteria and were allocated into four groups: humming a Chanda, chanting a Sanskrit verse, reading an English phrase (EP), and silent sitting. Baseline and postintervention data were collected using the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale, Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale for Children, and Children's Self-Concept Scale. Result: Our study results reveal that there was a significant reduction in anxiety levels in the humming group and few domains of anxiety in the chanting group as well. The mindfulness scores were significantly improved in all the four groups including the humming and chanting groups after the interventions. Conclusion: There was no effect on self-concept scores in the humming group whereas the chanting group had a significant improvement in self-concept scale.