The influence of mindfulness meditation on angry emotions and violent behavior on Thai technical college students

Introduction: Violence among technical college students is a significant issue in Thailand, South East Asia, and yet few interventions are available for use with this group. In this study the outcomes of a culturally appropriate intervention, mindfulness meditation (MM), on anger and violent behavior are reported. The MM intervention was delivered over three consecutive weeks to technical college students (n = 40) and the effects compared to a comparison group (n = 56) who attend classes as usual. Methods: Both the intervention and comparison group completed a series of validated self-report measures on aggressive and violent behavior perpetration and victimization on three occasions (pre-intervention, 1 month and 3 month post-intervention). Results: Program participants reported lower levels of anger expression at one month follow-up, but there were no observed group × time interactions for self-reported violent behavior. Rates of victimization changed over time, with one interaction effect observed for reports of being threatened. Conclusions: MM may have the potential to improve emotional self-control, but is likely to only impact on violent behavior when this is anger mediated.