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Integrating Mindfulness into Mixed Martial Arts Training to Enhance Academic, Social, and Emotional Outcomes for At-Risk High School Students: a Qualitative Exploration

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Abstract

Increasingly, adolescents report experiencing levels of stress that exceed their coping resources. Chronic stress is associated with emotion regulation challenges that increase risk for poor mental health and educational outcomes. This qualitative study examined the impact of Integra Mindfulness Martial Arts™ (Integra MMA™) on the perceived academic, social, and emotional outcomes of high school students at-risk for emotion regulation challenges. Twenty-four students (19 males and 5 females) aged 14–17 who participated in Integra MMA™ at a rural high school and their teachers (N = 10) were interviewed about Integra MMA™ and its perceived benefits. Thematic analyses of transcripts highlighted diverse positive student outcomes, including improved academic outcomes, social competence, emotion regulation, and self-confidence. Four key processes were also described (e.g., awareness, calm, attention, acceptance) as supporting positive change. Benefits were seen across students at low and high risk for mental health challenges and male and female students. Future research directions and implications for programming are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by a grant awarded to This should be Point in Time Centre for Children, Youth, and Parents (EDG1715) from the Ontario Centre for Excellence in Child and Youth Mental Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St., Toronto, ON, M5B 2K3, Canada

    K. Milligan & R. Cosme

  2. Point in Time Centre for Children, Youth and Parents, 69 Eastern, Haliburton, ON, K0M 1S0, Canada

    M. Wolfe Miscio, L. Mintz, L. Hamilton & M. Cox

  3. Trillium Lakelands District School Board, 300 Kawartha Lakes County Rd 36, Lindsay, ON, K9V 4S4, Canada

    S. Woon & M. Gage

  4. Child Development Institute, 25 Imperial St., Toronto, ON, M5P 1B9, Canada

    M. Phillips

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  1. K. Milligan
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  2. R. Cosme
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  3. M. Wolfe Miscio
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  4. L. Mintz
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Correspondence to K. Milligan.

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This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standard.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Milligan, K., Cosme, R., Wolfe Miscio, M. et al. Integrating Mindfulness into Mixed Martial Arts Training to Enhance Academic, Social, and Emotional Outcomes for At-Risk High School Students: a Qualitative Exploration. Contemp School Psychol 21, 335–346 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-017-0142-1

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