Reducing aggression with martial arts: A meta-analysis of child and youth studies

Abstract Martial arts are becoming a mainstream sport for energetic youth and their popularity extends globally. Following a comprehensive search of martial arts research, a critical review of the field and the psychological implications was conducted. The resulting meta-analysis examined the effect...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Aggression and violent behavior 2017-05, Vol.34, p.96-101
Main Authors: Harwood, Anna, Lavidor, Michal, Rassovsky, Yuri
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Aggression
Aggressiveness
Children & youth
Externalizing behavior
Externalizing behaviour
Intervention
Martial arts
Meta-analysis
Popularity
Psychiatry
Systematic review
Violence
Youth
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract Martial arts are becoming a mainstream sport for energetic youth and their popularity extends globally. Following a comprehensive search of martial arts research, a critical review of the field and the psychological implications was conducted. The resulting meta-analysis examined the effect of martial arts on problematic externalizing behavior (aggression, anger, and violence). The final meta-analysis included twelve studies, with 507 participants (ages 6 to 18), where study type was a moderator. For nine intervention and longitudinal studies, there was a homogenous effect size of 0.65 (95% CI: 0.11, 1.03) indicating a medium effect, where martial arts improved aggression amongst the practicing youth. The other three one-time comparisons studies did not yield a homogenous effect size. Based on these analyses, it appears that martial arts has a potential to reduce externalizing behaviors in youth, although further research is needed to determine the mechanisms of change and specify the most relevant population groups for targeted interventions.
ISSN:1359-1789
1873-6335
DOI:10.1016/j.avb.2017.03.001