Yoga in school-aged children: Impact on children's mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic – A protocol

Abstract

The rapid spread of COVID-19 and the increasing burden on mental health and well- being require new ways of supporting families that have to maintain the new norms of social distancing. Many families may be under enormous amounts of stress and anxiety caused by losing their loved ones. Therefore, there is a great need to search for ways to minimize the effects of COVID-19 on mental health and well-being. The purpose of the research is to evaluate a yoga intervention offered online to school-aged children in the U.K. by Patanjali Yog Peeth Trust U.K. (PYPT) and evaluate its effectiveness by interviewing the parents of participating children. The project will seek to promote an additional tool in managing mental health and well-being in school-aged children. The research will use a mixed-methods approach. Parents will be approached by a PYPT yoga teacher and invited to complete an online survey and quantitative interview. Parents (over 18 years) of school-aged children (5-16 years) who live in the U.K. are eligible to take part. Upon gaining consent, participates will be asked to complete a parent and child characteristic questionnaire. An SDQ survey for parents via online Opinio and a subsample will be interviewed using a structured interview schedule. All analyses will be carried out in SPSS. It is intended that the research will provide an evidence base that will aid future studies and inform in developing yoga interventions that may aid in promoting child mental health and well-being. The study results will be published in peer-reviewed international journals; the researchers will also present the results at governmental conferences.