Tai Chi as a public health intervention: effects on stress regulation, attention, and psychological resilience in adults

BackgroundChronic psychological stress, impaired attentional functioning, and reduced psychological resilience represent major public health challenges among adults, contributing to adverse mental and physical health outcomes. Mind–body interventions have gained increasing attention as scalable, non-pharmacological strategies to address these interconnected domains. Tai Chi, a traditional Chinese mind–body practice characterized by slow movements, controlled breathing, and mindful attention, is particularly suitable for population-level implementation due to its low cost, accessibility, and adaptability.MethodsThis randomized controlled trial evaluated the effects of an 8-week structured Tai Chi intervention on stress regulation, attention, and psychological resilience in adults aged 30–55 years. Sixty-eight participants were randomly assigned to either a Tai Chi intervention group (TCG, n = 34) or a control group (CG, n = 34). The TCG participated in supervised Tai Chi sessions three times per week (60 min/session), while the CG continued routine daily activities. Outcome measures included the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) for stress regulation, the Attention Network Test (ANT) for attentional performance, and the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-25) for psychological resilience. Assessments were conducted at baseline and post-intervention. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA with effect sizes reported as partial eta squared (η2p).ResultsAll variables demonstrated normal distribution at baseline. Significant Group × Time interaction effects were observed for stress regulation (η2p = 0.32), attention (η2p = 0.16), and psychological resilience (η2p = 0.41), indicating greater improvements in the Tai Chi group compared with controls. Post hoc analyses revealed that the TCG exhibited a significant reduction in perceived stress, faster attentional reaction times, and a substantial increase in psychological resilience following the intervention (p<0.01), whereas no significant changes were observed in the control group.DiscussionThe findings provide robust evidence that Tai Chi is an effective and potentially scalable mind-body intervention for improving stress regulation, attentional performance, and psychological resilience in adults. The moderate-to-large effect sizes observed across outcomes highlight Tai Chi's potential as a holistic mind–body strategy for enhancing psychological wellbeing.