title: Reduced Trauma Symptoms and Perceived Stress in Male Prison Inmates through the Transcendental Meditation Program: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
abstract: Trauma events are four times more prevalent in inmates than in the general public and are associated with increased recidivism and other mental and physical health issues.
  
  
  
  To evaluate the effects of Transcendental Meditation (TM) on trauma symptoms in male inmates.
  
  
  
  One hundred eighty-one inmates with a moderate- to high-risk criminal profile were randomly assigned to either the TM program or to a usual care control group.
  
  
  
  The Trauma Symptom Checklist and the Perceived Stress Scale were administered at baseline and four-month posttest.
  
  
  
  Significant reductions in total trauma symptoms, anxiety, depression, dissociation, and sleep disturbance subscales, and perceived stress in the TM group were found compared with controls (all p values < 0.001). The high-trauma subgroup analysis further showed a higher magnitude of effects in the TM group compared with controls on all outcomes, with Cohen effect sizes ranging from 0.67 to 0.89.
  
  
  
  Results are consistent with those of prior studies of the TM program in other populations and its effects on trauma symptoms and perceived stress.
authors.affiliation: Professor and the Director of the Center for Social and Emotional Health at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, IA. snidich@mum.edu.
authors.forename: Sanford
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nidich
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Western Oregon University in Monmouth. oconnortom@aol.com.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: O'connor
authors.affiliation: Staff Psychologist at Veterans Administration San Diego Healthcare System in La Jolla, CA. thomas.rutledge@va.gov.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rutledge
authors.affiliation: Research Analyst for the Oregon Department of Corrections in Salem. jeff.b.duncan@doc.state.or.us.
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Duncan
authors.affiliation: Affiliated Research Associate at the Center for Social and Emotional Health at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, IA. blazecompton@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Blaze
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Compton
authors.affiliation: Affiliated Research Associate at the Center for Social and Emotional Health at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, IA. seng.angelak@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Seng
authors.affiliation: Senior Researcher at the Center for Social and Emotional Health at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, IA. rnidich@mum.edu.
authors.forename: Randi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nidich
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003863:Depression / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation / Q000379:methods*; D011330:Prisons; D000067073:Psychological Trauma / Q000150:complications*; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000517:prevention & control*; D055815:Young Adult