Rovnaghi Cynthia R, Gupta Anjali, Ramsundarsingh Susan, Newman Ronnie I, Shen Sa, Vedelli Jordan K H, Reichert Elizabeth L, Anand Kanwaljeet J S
Child Wellness Lab, Maternal & Child Health Research Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
Department of Social Work, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Compr Psychoneuroendocrinol. 2025 Mar 3;22:100287. doi: 10.1016/j.cpnec.2025.100287. eCollection 2025 May.
The SKY Schools Program combines breath-based techniques and a social-emotional learning curriculum. We examined its effects on objective physiological biomarkers, including hair cortisol (HCC, chronic stress measure) and hair oxytocin (HOC, social affiliation measure), as well as behavioral (youth risk behaviors) and mental health outcomes (anxiety, depression).
The SKY Schools program was adapted for post-pandemic restrictions (i.e., staff shortages, no lessons requiring writing, limited weekly follow-ups) and implemented among 7th grade students (daily in-person 40-min sessions for three weeks during physical education classes). Longitudinal assessments were obtained at baseline (T1, February 2022, N = 21), post-intervention (T2, June 2022, N = 20), and follow-up (T3, December 2022, N = 18).
Most of our sample was male (67 %), Hispanic (62 %), and lived in low-income (<$100K) households (75 %). Students reported fewer poor mental health days at follow-up (Friedman test p < 0.01). Log-normal (Ln)-HCC (p < 0.01) were higher post-intervention vs. baseline (median 1.81 (IQR 1.63-2.46) vs. 1.60 (0.91-1.85)) and lower at follow-up (1.23; IQR: 0.64-1.50), with HCC in more students moving into the adaptive range (25th-75th percentile). Ln-HOC (p = 0.04) were higher post-intervention vs. baseline (1.78 (1.54-2.26) vs. 1.50 (0.81-1.70)).
This study uniquely evaluated the impact of the SKY intervention on hair cortisol (HCC) and hair oxytocin concentrations (HOC), which are objective, physiological measures of chronic stress and social affiliation. Results suggest that SKY may improve social affiliation and possibly HPA-axis regulation.
SKY学校项目结合了基于呼吸的技巧和社会情感学习课程。我们研究了该项目对客观生理生物标志物的影响，包括头发皮质醇（HCC，慢性压力指标）和头发催产素（HOC，社会联系指标），以及行为（青少年风险行为）和心理健康结果（焦虑、抑郁）。
SKY学校项目针对疫情后的限制进行了调整（即人员短缺、无需书写的课程、有限的每周随访），并在七年级学生中实施（在体育课期间，每天进行40分钟的面对面课程，为期三周）。在基线（T1，2022年2月，N = 21）、干预后（T2，2022年6月，N = 20）和随访（T3，2022年12月，N = 18）时进行纵向评估。
我们的样本大多为男性（67%）、西班牙裔（62%），且生活在低收入（<$100K）家庭（75%）。学生报告随访时心理健康状况不佳的天数减少（Friedman检验p < 0.01）。干预后对数正态（Ln）-HCC（p < 0.01）高于基线（中位数1.81（四分位间距1.63 - 2.46）对1.60（0.91 - 1.85）），随访时较低（1.23；四分位间距：0.64 - 1.50），更多学生的HCC进入适应范围（第25 - 75百分位数）。Ln-HOC（p = 0.04）干预后高于基线（1.78（1.54 - 2.26）对1.50（0.81 - 1.70））。
本研究独特地评估了SKY干预对头发皮质醇（HCC）和头发催产素浓度（HOC）的影响，它们是慢性压力和社会联系的客观生理指标。结果表明，SKY可能改善社会联系，并可能调节下丘脑 - 垂体 - 肾上腺轴。
