The Peace of Mind and Body Project: Treatment Development of Yoga for Anger Management in Incarcerated Adults

NCT05336123 | Completed Results DMC

• 2 other identifiers: 18110022615R34AT010172
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 40
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The investigators will conduct a pilot randomized clinical trial (n = 40) of hatha yoga vs. a health education group (attention control) for prisoners high in self-reported anger dysregulation. The investigators will assess feasibility and acceptability of the yoga program, the health education control group, and research procedures.

Conditions

Anger; Aggression

Keywords

Yoga; Health Education; Aggression; Anger; Incarceration

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Program Satisfaction

  Program Satisfaction as measured by the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8) total score. The CSQ-8 is an 8-item measure with each item measured on a 1-4 scale. Items are summed, with a total score range from 8-32. Higher scores indicate greater client satisfaction.

  Assessed at the end of the program (hatha yoga or health education) at week 10

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Program Credibility

  Assessed at beginning of the program at week 1

• Program Expectancy

  Assessed at beginning of the program at week 1

• Class Attendance

  Assessed at each weekly class for 10 weeks

• Novaco Anger Scale

  Change from baseline to the 10 week follow-up

Study Arms (2)

Hatha Yoga

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will be invited to attend one 60-75 minute yoga class for 10 weeks in the prison facility where they reside. Each class will consist of: breathing exercises, brief guided centering meditation, warm-ups, standing postures, floor postures, an inversion, relaxation, and between-class practice assignments. Classes will emphasize mindfulness, including noticing emotions, thoughts, and physical sensations related to anger, and moderate physical activity. Classes will include some teaching of a relevant yoga theme, such as nonviolence (ahimsa).

Behavioral: Hatha Yoga

Health Education

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

To match for attention, the control condition will be a 10-week program that consists of weekly 60-75 minute group classes. In classes, instructors will provide information about general health topics through a variety of means such as slides and handouts. There will be an emphasis on group discussion of relevant topics; instructors do not just lecture. The core rationale for this course is that good physical health is important for good mental health. Instructors will provide information and encourage questions but avoid psychotherapeutic techniques or personalized goal-setting. Instructors will give participants readings to explore on their own.

Behavioral: Health Education

Interventions

Hatha Yoga BEHAVIORAL

Weekly hatha yoga classes lasting 10 weeks.

Hatha Yoga

Health Education BEHAVIORAL

Weekly health education classes lasting 10 weeks.

Health Education

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 70 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Age 18-70
• Clinically significant anger dysregulation, as evidenced by a score ≥ 86 on the Novaco Anger Scale (NAS)
• Prisoner or jail detainee, with anticipated duration of remaining time incarcerated of 90 days or more, allowing for participation in the 10 week intervention
• Ability and willingness to provide informed consent
• Willingness to be audio recorded in the intervention condition sessions (e.g., yoga or health education groups).

You may not qualify if:

• Presence of current manic or psychotic symptoms, or suicide risk (warranting referral to prison mental health clinical staff)
• Any endorsed item on the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q) except for item 6 (i.e., participants can be included even if they endorse item 6)
• Current weekly yoga practice or current participation in mindfulness- based programming
• Pregnancy
• Inability to understand English sufficiently well to understand the consent form or assessment instruments when read aloud.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Brown University: lead
• National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH): collaborator
• Butler Hospital: collaborator
• The Miriam Hospital: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Rhode Island Department of Corrections

Cranston, Rhode Island, 02920, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Uebelacker LA, Stevens L, Graves H, Braun TD, Foster R, Johnson JE, Tremont G, Weinstock LM. Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of a Yoga-Based Intervention Targeting Anger Management for People Who Are Incarcerated. J Integr Complement Med. 2025 Feb;31(2):183-195. doi: 10.1089/jicm.2024.0308. Epub 2024 Oct 7.

  PMID: 39373144 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Aggression; Health Education

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Aberrant Motor Behavior in Dementia; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior; Social Behavior; Adherence Interventions; Medication Adherence; Patient Compliance; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Treatment Adherence and Compliance; Health Behavior

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Dr. Lauren Weinstock
• Organization: Brown University

Lauren_Weinstock@brown.edu

401-455-6304

Study Officials

• Lauren M Weinstock, PhD

  Brown University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: No
• Restrictive Agreement: No

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR
• Masking Details: One of the study MPIs and all but one of the Co-Investigators will be blind to group assignment.
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Participants will be randomly assigned to either a 10 week hatha yoga class or health education class.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 31, 2022
• First Posted: April 20, 2022
• Study Start: March 12, 2022
• Primary Completion: April 12, 2023
• Study Completion: June 29, 2023
• Last Updated: September 26, 2024
• Results First Posted: June 12, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)