Stress management benefits high school students

12 teachers at a Boston public charter school received six hours of training in 'resiliency curriculum'

The 2014 annual survey of the American Psychological Association found that teens reported stress greater than did any other age group.

With that in mind, a new pilot study, published in the spring issue of the journal Advances in Mind-Body Medicine, describes how a stress-reduction/resiliency-building curriculum developed by the Benson-Henry Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital helped a group of Boston-area high school students significantly reduce anxiety.

In the study, 12 teachers at a Boston public charter school received six hours of training in the resiliency curriculum, which they implemented with students over six to eight weeks.

Students who received the curriculum, ranging in age from 13 to 19, reported significant reductions in perceived stress and anxiety and a greater ability to manage stress and to practice healthy lifestyle behaviors after participating in the program. This was true after they had completed the program as well as a year later, indicating the program was effective.

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