@article{ref1,
title="Reducing aggression with martial arts: a meta-analysis of child and youth studies",
journal="Aggression and violent behavior",
year="2017",
author="Harwood, Anna and Lavidor, Michal and Rassovsky, Yuri",
volume="34",
number="",
pages="96-101",
abstract="Martial arts are becoming a mainstream sport for energetic youth and their popularity extends globally. Following a comprehensive search of martial arts research, a critical review of the field and the psychological implications was conducted. The resulting meta-analysis examined the effect of martial arts on problematic externalizing behavior (aggression, anger, and violence). The final meta-analysis included twelve studies, with 507 participants (ages 6 to 18), where study type was a moderator. For nine intervention and longitudinal studies, there was a homogenous effect size of 0.65 (95% CI: 0.11, 1.03) indicating a medium effect, where martial arts improved aggression amongst the practicing youth. The other three one-time comparisons studies did not yield a homogenous effect size. Based on these analyses, it appears that martial arts has a potential to reduce externalizing behaviors in youth, although further research is needed to determine the mechanisms of change and specify the most relevant population groups for targeted interventions.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1359-1789",
doi="10.1016/j.avb.2017.03.001",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2017.03.001"
}