Objectives

Violent and criminal behaviors have increased in recent years in many countries, with the younger population constituting one of the main actors involved in this phenomenon. It has been hypothesized that alterations in inhibitory control play a crucial role in the appearance and persistence of such behaviors. Mindfulness meditation promotes detailed observation of sensations, emotions, and thoughts that involve cognitive processes and brain circuits closely related to inhibitory control. To determine the effect of mindfulness meditation on inhibitory control in young offenders.

Methods

A total of 40 young male offenders (16–23 years) were recruited from a juvenile correctional facility, all of whom had committed violent crimes before the age of 18. The youths were divided into two groups of 20 participants each: treatment and control. A Stroop task and two Stop-signal tasks, one with happy, fearful, angry, and neutral facial stimuli, were performed before and after a 10-week mindfulness meditation training program.

Results

Compared to controls, the young offenders who participated in mindfulness training improved their inhibitory control after treatment, as reflected in an increase in their reaction times on the Stop-signal task (F_(1,36) = 12.87, p = .031, η² = .261), and a decrease in the number of errors on the Stroop task (F_(1,36) = 4.684, p = .037, η² = .115).

Conclusions

Mindfulness meditation training improved inhibitory control and, therefore, may have a positive effect on mitigating violent behavior in young offenders.

中文翻译：

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正念训练对青少年罪犯抑制控制的影响

目标

近年来，许多国家的暴力和犯罪行为有所增加，年轻人成为这一现象的主要参与者之一。已经假设抑制控制的改变在这种行为的出现和持续中起着至关重要的作用。正念冥想促进对涉及与抑制控制密切相关的认知过程和大脑回路的感觉、情绪和思想的详细观察。确定正念冥想对年轻罪犯的抑制控制的影响。

方法

从少年管教所招募了 40 名年轻男性罪犯（16-23 岁），他们都在 18 岁之前实施了暴力犯罪。这些青少年被分成两组，每组 20 名参与者：治疗组和控制组。在为期 10 周的正念冥想训练计划之前和之后，进行了一项 Stroop 任务和两项停止信号任务，一项具有快乐、恐惧、愤怒和中性面部刺激。

结果

与对照组相比，参加正念训练的年轻罪犯在治疗后改善了他们的抑制控制，这反映在他们对停止信号任务的反应时间增加（F _(1,36)  = 12.87, p  = .031, η ²  = .261)，并且 Stroop 任务的错误数量减少（F _(1,36)  = 4.684，p  = .037，η ²  = .115）。

结论

正念冥想训练改善了抑制控制，因此可能对减轻年轻罪犯的暴力行为产生积极影响。