The Effect of Buddhist Psychology Program by Using Meditation Practice on Executive Functions in Early Childhood
Keywords:
Buddhist psychology, Mindfulness Meditation, Executive Functions, Early ChildhoodAbstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a Buddhist psychology-based meditation program on executive functions in early childhood. The specific objectives were: 1. to compare the overall development of executive functions between the experimental and control groups, and 2. to compare the development of individual components of executive functions between the two groups. The study employed a quasi-experimental design using a pretest–posttest control group. The population consisted of 76 preschool children aged 4–6 years from a kindergarten in Phrae Province. Participants were purposively selected and matched according to their pretest scores, resulting in a total sample of 54 children—27 in the experimental group and 27 in the control group. The experimental group participated in a Buddhist psychology-based meditation program for a period of 10 weeks, while the control group did not receive meditation training. The research instruments included: 1) the Buddhist psychology-based meditation program, based on the preschool-level meditation training curriculum for developing mental power of the Willpower Institute; 2) the Executive Function Assessment for Preschool Children (MU.EF-101), which demonstrated high reliability with internal consistency coefficients ranging from 0.89 to 0.96 and inter-rater reliability ranging from 0.93 to 0.99; and 3) a meditation practice record form to confirm consistency in practice. Data were analyzed using percentage, mean, standard deviation, and t-test.
The results revealed that: 1. the experimental group had significantly higher overall executive function scores than the control group, and 2. the experimental group scored significantly higher in inhibitory control and working memory, while no significant differences were found in cognitive flexibility, emotional control, and planning and organization. These findings suggest that meditation training is an effective approach to enhancing the overall development of executive functions in young children, particularly in the domains of inhibitory control and working memory.
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