LaughterYogaStress

Summary

It is important for students to develop effective coping behaviors to manage stress, as this contributes to the formation of a positive professional identity. Studies have shown that stress negatively affects student success (Chapman and Orb, 2001; Chan, So, and Fong, 2009). First-year nursing students may particularly experience difficulties in performing clinical practice for the first time and communicating with healthcare professionals (Ağaçdiken et al., 2016; Pryjmachuk and Richards, 2007).

Self-efficacy is one of the key factors determining how individuals handle and cope with stressful situations, and it serves as a protective factor in stress management. Various methods are used to cope with stress. In the Traditional Medicine Strategy report published by the World Health Organization, yoga is identified as a complementary medicine practice (WHO, 2013b).

Laughter yoga is an exercise program that combines unconditional laughter with breathing techniques and is considered a non-invasive and non-pharmacological intervention (Strean, 2009). It activates muscles through laughter-related movements, enhances blood circulation, and contributes to reducing stress hormone levels (Yim, 2016). Therefore, laughter yoga will be used in this study to help students cope with stress and improve their self-efficacy levels.

This study is designed as a randomized controlled trial with an experimental and a control group, using a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design. The population of the study will consist of first-year nursing students at Kırıkkale University, Faculty of Health Sciences, during the 2024-2025 academic year.

Data will be collected using an introductory characteristics form, the Perceived Stress Scale for Nursing Students, the Bio-Psycho-Social Response Scale for Nursing Students, the Stress Coping Behaviors Scale for Nursing Students, and the General Self-Efficacy Scale. Data analysis will be conducted using SPSS for Windows 22. Descriptive statistics will be used for all variables. The chi-square test will be applied to compare sociodemographic characteristics between groups, and the independent samples t-test will be used to compare differences between two independent groups.

Conditions

• Laughter Yoga
• Perceived Stress
• Self-Efficacy
• Nursing Students

Interventions

OTHER

laughter yoga

Laughter yoga will be applied to nursing students to reduce stress levels and improve bio-psychosocial responses. The control group will receive traditional training.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Kırıkkale University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• BEYZA KALKAN KALKAN, license · Kırıkkale University

• KALKAN · Kırıkkale University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

17 Years

Max Age

55 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-02-27

Primary Completion

2025-04-10

Completion

2025-04-10

Countries

• Turkey (Türkiye)

Study Locations