Abstract

Research Article

Impact of Christian meditation and biofeedback on the mental health of graduate students in seminary: A pilot study

Paul Ratanasiripong* and Sun Tsai

Published: 09 March, 2020 | Volume 4 - Issue 1 | Pages: 019-024

With increasing awareness of the mental health issues among the clergy and seminary students, it is important to explore possible interventions to help address their mental health concerns. This pilot study examined the impact of Christian meditation and biofeedback on levels of stress, anxiety, and depression of seminary students. Participants of this study included 20 theology students from two seminary campuses. Participants were of various ethnic backgrounds and had an average age of 31. At the beginning of the study, participants were randomly assigned to practice either Christian meditation or biofeedback for 4 weeks, three times per day, and to keep a log of their practice times. The results from the paired samples t-tests indicated that both Christian meditation and biofeedback significantly reduced the levels of stress, anxiety, and depression experienced by the participants. ANCOVA indicated that neither intervention was more effective than the other. Seminaries, churches, and pastoral care groups should look into these interventions as a good source to help their clergy cope with stress, anxiety and depression.

Read Full Article HTML DOI: 10.29328/journal.ida.1001015 Cite this Article Read Full Article PDF

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