TY - JOUR
T1 - Reducing aggression with martial arts
T2 - A meta-analysis of child and youth studies
AU - Harwood, Anna
AU - Lavidor, Michal
AU - Rassovsky, Yuri
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2017/5
Y1 - 2017/5
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Adolescent
KW - Aggression
KW - Externalizing behavior
KW - Martial arts
KW - Meta-analysis
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85014334228
U2 - 10.1016/j.avb.2017.03.001
DO - 10.1016/j.avb.2017.03.001
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AN - SCOPUS:85014334228
SN - 1359-1789
VL - 34
SP - 96
EP - 101
JO - Aggression and Violent Behavior
JF - Aggression and Violent Behavior
ER -