title: Significant reductions in posttraumatic stress symptoms in Congolese refugees within 10 days of Transcendental Meditation practice.
abstract: This follow-up pilot study tested whether Transcendental Meditation® (TM) practice would significantly reduce symptoms of posttraumatic stress in Congolese refugees within 10 days after instruction. The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian (PCL-C) was administered to nonmatched waitlist controls from a previous study 3 times over a 90-day period. Within 8 days of the third baseline measure, 11 refugees were taught TM, then retested 10 days and 30 days after instruction. Average PCL-C scores dropped 29.9 points from 77.9 to 48.0 in 10 days, then dropped another 12.7 points to 35.3 at 30 days. Effect size at 10 days was high (d = 4.05). There were no adverse events. All participants completed the study and were able to practice TM.
authors: Medical Corps, U.S. Army Reserve, 63d Regional Support Command, Moffett Field, California, USA.
authors: Brian
authors: B
authors: Rees
authors: Fred
authors: F
authors: Travis
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Shapiro
authors: Ruth
authors: R
authors: Chant
mesh_terms: D003223:Congo / Q000208:ethnology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D019122:Meditation / Q000523:psychology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012036:Refugees / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014454:Uganda