Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Spring 5-16-2011
Abstract
As a popular exercise form, Tai Chi (TC) has been investigated to determine its contributions to an active and healthy lifestyle. There are an increasing number of researchers who focus on exploring the potential physiological and psychological benefits of TC but only a few systematic reviews of these benefits to a variety of populations. The purpose of this paper is to comprehensively evaluate the reported psychological benefits associated with practicing TC. Although many investigators have reported possible psychological benefits of TC for children, young adults, older healthy adults, and for a variety of patient populations, many of the reports suffer one or more methodological flaws. These flaws include inadequate study design, including lack of control groups, small sample sizes, unsophisticated statistical techniques, or publication without rigorous peer review. After reviewing the results of the existing literature regarding the potential psychological benefits of TC, we recommend that future investigations be conducted with additional adherence to the traditional scientific process.
Recommended Citation
Long Zhang, Charles Layne, Thomas Lowder, and Jian Liu, “A Review Focused on the Psychological Effectiveness of Tai Chi on Different Populations,” Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, vol. 2012, Article ID 678107, 9 pages, 2012. doi:10.1155/2012/678107
Included in
Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons, Medicine and Health Sciences Commons, Other Engineering Commons, Risk Analysis Commons
Comments
The copy of record is available from the publisher at http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/678107. Copyright © 2012 Long Zhang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.