Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jun 23;20(6):e0326432.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0326432. eCollection 2025.

Buddha image meditation is a potent predictor for mental health outcomes: A cross-sectional study among Thai high-school students

Justin DeMaranville  1 , Tinakon Wongpakaran  1   2 , Nahathai Wongpakaran  1   2 , Danny Wedding  1   3   4
Affiliations

Buddha image meditation is a potent predictor for mental health outcomes: A cross-sectional study among Thai high-school students

Justin DeMaranville et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Purpose: Meditation has been demonstrated to benefit adolescent mental health. This research examined various meditation styles practiced in northern Thailand to determine which were associated with positive and negative mental health outcomes in adolescents.

Population and methods: High school students who were 15-18 years old and who were enrolled in grades 10-12 in either secular or Buddhist Thai boarding schools were recruited following their school's willingness to participate. They provided information about meditation styles and their practice frequency during the last month (i.e., breathing, kasina (color), Buddha image visualization, Manomayiddhi, mindfulness, recollections, and vipassanā). The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), Resilience Inventory (RI-9), Outcome Inventory-21 (OI-21), and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) were completed. Multiple linear regression model analysis was used to identify the effects of meditation styles on mental health outcomes.

Results: Among 443 participants, 390 were females (87.9%). The mean age was 16.35 ± 0.96 years. The three most common meditation styles practiced were breathing, Buddha image visualization, and mindfulness (46.5%, 26.2%, and 22.8%, respectively). Buddha image visualization was a significant predictor of RSES (B = 1.69, 95%CI = 0.77, 2.61), RI-9 (B = 2.95, 95%CI = 0.68, 2.95), OI-Anxiety (B = -2.38, 95%CI = -3.34, -1.41), OI-Depression (B = -1.94, 95%CI = -2.64, -1.24), and PSS-10 (B = -2.47, 95%CI = -3.65, -1.28), whereas Manomayiddhi was a predictor of RI-9 (B = 2.47, 95%CI = 0.74, 2.47), OI-Anxiety (B = -2.32, 95%CI = -3.41, -1.23), OI-Depression (B = -1.53, 95%CI = -2.32, -0.74), and PSS-10 (B = -2.14, 95%CI = -3.46, -0.81). Breathing meditation predicted OI-Depression (B = -0.87, 95%CI = -1.45, -0.29). Daily meditation frequency was associated with the best mental health scores (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Buddha image visualization, Manomayiddhi, and breathing meditation were predictive of adolescents' mental health. A higher practice frequency is associated with positive mental health outcomes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Meditation Styles of Thai Teenagers. The most common meditative styles reported as having been practiced in the last month by this population were breathing meditation, Buddha image visualization, and mindfulness meditation.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Meditation Frequency of Thai Teenagers. On average, the participants meditated approximately 3-4 times per week (2.43
± 1.41).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Dasanayaka NN, Sirisena ND, Samaranayake N. Impact of Meditation-Based Lifestyle Practices on Mindfulness, Wellbeing, and Plasma Telomerase Levels: A Case-Control Study. Front Psychol. 2022;13:846085. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.846085 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Perry-Parrish C, Copeland-Linder N, Webb L, Sibinga EMS. Mindfulness-Based Approaches for Children and Youth. Curr Probl Pediatr Adolesc Health Care. 2016;46(6):172–8. doi: 10.1016/j.cppeds.2015.12.006 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Green J, Huberty J, Puzia M, Stecher C. The Effect of Meditation and Physical Activity on the Mental Health Impact of COVID-19-Related Stress and Attention to News Among Mobile App Users in the United States: Cross-sectional Survey. JMIR Ment Health. 2021;8(4):e28479. doi: 10.2196/28479 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tang Y-Y, Hölzel BK, Posner MI. The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2015;16(4):213–25. doi: 10.1038/nrn3916 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Basso JC, McHale A, Ende V, Oberlin DJ, Suzuki WA. Brief, daily meditation enhances attention, memory, mood, and emotional regulation in non-experienced meditators. Behav Brain Res. 2019;356:208–20. - PubMed