Massage and Storytelling Reduce Aggression and Improve Academic Performance in Children Attending Elementary School

BACKGROUND: Aggressive behaviors must be addressed in elementary schools. Massage and storytelling can be strategies to deal with aggression because both involve experience exchange and social interaction. Both can decrease stress and anxiety and increase self-esteem. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of two interventions (massage and storytelling) on aggressive behaviors and academic performance of elementary school children. METHOD: Three groups (n = 35 children in each group) of the second grade participated (aged 6.5–8.1 years). One group received ten extra classes of massage (MG), another group received extra classes of storytelling (SG), and the control group received extra classes of random subjects (CG). Extra classes lasted for 50 minutes, once a week. Aggressive behaviors were recorded on diaries, by the teachers and the coordinator. The frequency of aggressive behaviors and the academic performance of MG, SG, and CG were observed for six months and the groups were compared. FINDINGS: ANOVAs evidenced that MG and SG, but not CG, showed a reduction in aggressive behaviors registered by the teachers and coordinator, after the intervention. Academic performance of MG and SC improved after the intervention (p < 0.05).