The Effect of Laughter Yoga on Stress, Burnout, and General Health in Psychiatric Nurses

Bezmialem Vakif University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Psychiatric Nursing; Occupational Stress; Burnout; General Health; Perceived Stress

Treatments: Behavioral: Laughter Yoga

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07015372

2023_Dost_LaughterYoga

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study aims to examine the effects of laughter yoga on general health, perceived stress, and burnout among psychiatric nurses. Nurses working in psychiatric units are often exposed to high levels of occupational stress, which may impact their well-being and job performance. This trial was designed to evaluate the potential benefits of laughter yoga as a supportive intervention in this context.

Full description

Psychiatric nurses frequently face emotionally intense situations, aggressive patient behaviors, and heavy workloads. These factors are known to contribute to elevated stress levels and burnout.

This study was conducted as a randomized controlled trial at a psychiatric hospital located on the Anatolian side of Istanbul, Türkiye. A total of 70 psychiatric nurses voluntarily participated and were randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group (n=35 per group).

The experimental group received an eight-session laughter yoga program, with each session lasting approximately 30 minutes. Sessions were held face-to-face in small groups and facilitated by a trained laughter yoga instructor. Each session included four components: warm-up and clapping exercises, deep breathing, childlike playfulness, and structured laughter activities. The control group received no intervention during the study period.

Data were collected before and after the intervention using the following validated tools:

Nurse Demographic Information Form

Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)

Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10)

General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28)

The study was approved by the relevant ethics committee, and all participants provided informed consent prior to enrollment.

Enrollment: 70 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Being a psychiatric nurse at the specified hospital
• Volunteering to participate
• Not receiving psychiatric treatment currently

Exclusion criteria

• Chronic physical illnesses that could interfere
• Inability to attend all sessions

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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70 participants in 2 patient groups

Experimental: Laughter Yoga

Experimental group

Description:

Participants in this group received a structured laughter yoga program consisting of 8 sessions over approximately four weeks. Each session lasted about 30 minutes and included clapping, breathing exercises, playful activities, and laughter exercises. Sessions were delivered face-to-face in small groups.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Laughter Yoga

Control: No Intervention

No Intervention group

Description:

Participants in this group did not receive any intervention during the study period. They continued their usual routines and duties. The same pre- and post-test assessments were applied as in the experimental group.