روانشناسی زن (Aug 2021)
The effectiveness of laughter yoga training on the general health of women with diabetes
Abstract
The study aimed to determine the effectiveness of laughter yoga training on the general health of women with diabetes. The research method was quasi-experimental with a test and control group, pre-test, post-test, and two-month follow-up plan. The statistical population was 70 female teachers with diabetes in education zones 1 and 2 of Zahedan city in 2018. From this community, 60 women voluntarily participated in the screening after sending a circular from the Department of Education, and 30 women with diabetes were selected and randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. The research tool of Goldberg and Hiller's general health questionnaire (1978) and the medical laughter yoga program (2013) was taught to the experimental group in 8 60-minute group sessions once a week. The data were analyzed using mixed analysis of variance with repeated measures. The results indicate the effect of laughter yoga training on physical symptoms (F = 4.55, P = 0.037), anxiety symptoms and sleep disorder (F = 3.33, P = 0.024), social functioning (4.35 F = 0.041), depressive symptoms (F = 4.92, P = 0.030) and general health score (F = 3.68, P = 0.046). Also, the stability of this effect was in the follow-up phase. Laughter yoga training encourages a person to recognize their positive and good experiences and their role in increasing and promoting self-respect and respect for others and self-respect. Therefore, it seems that it is better to teach laughter yoga to female teachers with diabetes along with lifestyle changes and teaching ways to deal with stressful situations resulting from the disease to obtain more stable results.
