The effect of Benson's relaxation response on the anxiety levels of Lebanese children under stress

The effect of Benson's relaxation techinque on the stress of fifth-grade Lebanese elementary students was investigated. The sample consisted of 62 students 10–12 years of age blocked by sex and randomly assigned to either the treatment group or a reading-activity control group. Subjects in the treatment group practiced relaxation each morning for 10 min over a 6-week period while the control group was taken to a separate room for a reading activity. Results indicated that the subjects in the treatment group scored lower on a general anxiety scale and also on a test anxiety scale than did the control group. Girls were also found to score higher on the general anxiety measure than did boys. Follow-up, 3 weeks after the treatment had been discontinued, revealed that the treatment effects had disappeared but not those related to sex differences for the general anxiety measure.