Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42564002›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in psychology2026

Morning yoga as an embodied regulatory practice: longitudinal changes in children's self-esteem and gratitude following participation in a school-based yoga program.

Shoichi Shiota, Takahiro Ohitokata, Hiroshi Harada

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Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Shoichi ShiotaFaculty of Health Sciences, Department of General Education, Aomori University of Health and Welfare, Aomori, Japan.
Takahiro OhitokataTahara Public Elementary School, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan.
Hiroshi HaradaBoard of Education of Kitakyushu City, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Self-esteem and gratitude are important psychological constructs associated with children's socio-emotional development and well-being. Previous studies have suggested that yoga may be associated with emotional regulation, attentional stability, and prosocial functioning. However, few studies have examined whether participation in school-based yoga programs is associated with changes in both self-esteem and gratitude among children. The present study aimed to examine longitudinal changes in self-esteem and gratitude following participation in a structured yoga program incorporating loving-kindness meditation in elementary school settings. Methods: This pilot study was conducted in seven public elementary schools in Kitakyushu City, Japan, as part of the regular school curriculum. A total of 401 children participated in a structured "Asa (morning) yoga" program conducted once weekly for 15 min from September 2025 to February 2026. The intervention included physical postures (asana), breathing techniques, attention-focused meditation, and loving-kindness meditation. Self-esteem was assessed using the Self-esteem Scale by Rosenberg for Elementary and Junior High School Students, and gratitude was assessed using the Interpersonal Gratitude Scale for Children. Pre-post changes were analyzed using paired Results: Self-esteem scores were significantly higher at post-intervention than at pre-intervention. Gratitude scores were also significantly higher at post-intervention than at pre-intervention. Conclusion: Participation in a brief, structured school-based yoga program was associated with positive pre-post changes in self-esteem and gratitude over the study period. These findings suggest that participation in school-based yoga programs may be associated with positive changes in selected socio-emotional outcomes in children. However, given the absence of a control group, causal interpretations should be made with caution, and future controlled studies are needed to clarify the nature of these relationships.

Indexed as

gratitudeschool-based programself-esteemsocio-emotional learningyoga

Identifiers

PMID42564002
PMCPMC13441743

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