Effects of Ānāpāna Meditation on The Sustained Attention Span of Students from the Middle School

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of Ānāpāna Meditation on improving sustained attention in middle school students. A total of 505 CBSE class 6th and 7th students were involved, with 271 receiving parental consent for participation, while 234 were excluded due to lack of consent. Students in the experimental group practiced 10 minutes of Ānāpāna Meditation during a separate assembly, whereas the control group attended regular assemblies. The research employed a pre-test and post-test design, using the Number Cancellation Test (NCT) to assess attention. Measurements were taken at three intervals: before the intervention, after 3 months, and after 6 months. The final analysis included 453 students (245 experimental, 208 control), excluding any outliers and incomplete data. Results revealed significant improvements in NCT scores for the experimental group, with a moderate effect size of 0.39. Scores increased by 3.61 after 3 months and by 16.47 after 6 months (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that Ānāpāna Meditation positively influences sustained attention among middle school students.