A pilot randomized controlled trial of distance laughter therapy for mothers' level of depression, anxiety, and parental stress during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Journal
PloS one
ISSN: 1932-6203
Titre abrégé: PLoS One
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 101285081
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
2023
2023
Historique:
received:
09
02
2023
accepted:
20
06
2023
medline:
17
7
2023
pubmed:
14
7
2023
entrez:
14
7
2023
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to substantial lifestyle changes worldwide, contributing to heightened psychological stressors such as depression and anxiety. The demands of parental care have also intensified, increasing the risk of caregiver burnout and potential child maltreatment. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of implementing distance laughter therapy for mothers caring for young children during the pandemic, with a focus on mitigating depression, anxiety, and parental stress. Utilizing a pilot randomized controlled design, 22 participants were divided into two groups-experimental and control groups-and underwent four virtual sessions over two weeks. The experimental group engaged in distance laughter therapy, a technique designed to stimulate self-induced laughter, while the control group viewed a 50-minute entertainment TV show. Both groups experienced a significant decrease in depression and anxiety; however, only the experimental group experienced a significant reduction in parental stress. Nonetheless, the differences in outcomes between the groups were not statistically significant. Participants who engaged in distance laughter therapy reported positive changes across physical, emotional, social, self-perception, and stress-coping domains in exit interviews. Therefore, laughter therapy has an additional benefit of reducing parental stress, which may be particularly useful for mothers primarily responsible for childcare during the pandemic. Future research should investigate the effects of laughter on broader populations and settings and quantify the actual amount of laughter generated.
Identifiants
pubmed: 37450484
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288246
pii: PONE-D-23-02542
pmc: PMC10348554
doi:
Types de publication
Randomized Controlled Trial
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
e0288246Informations de copyright
Copyright: © 2023 Ko, Park. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
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