NCT01652807

Yoga for Stress and Mental Health

An 8-Week Hatha Yoga Intervention for Stress and Mental Health

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 52 (actual)
• Sponsor: Southern Methodist University · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 25 Years – 45 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study looks at an 8-week hatha yoga intervention for women reporting high levels of stress, a risk factor for various forms of psychopathology.

Detailed description

Yoga practice appears to reduce stress and associated emotions. Specifically, yoga has been associated with significant decreases in depression, anxiety, and perceived stress. These findings underscore the promise of yoga practice for improving mental health in women prone to stress. This study aims to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of an eight-week Hatha Yoga intervention for improving stress and mental health. To this end, the investigators will recruit 40 women high in stress to receive an 8-week hatha yoga intervention consisting of two weekly 90-minute sessions. At baseline and at post-intervention, participants will undergo several cognitive, emotional, and behavioral assessments, followed by a relaxation time. Primary feasibility outcomes will be the time required to recruit 40 participants, the number of screen failures, participant retention and participant adherence to the study protocol. Acceptability will be evaluated with questionnaires and an interview during the final visit. Primary efficacy outcomes will be group differences in pre- to post-intervention change in perceived stress and various mental health parameters.

Conditions

• Physiological Stress
• Psychological Distress
• Depression
• Anxiety

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Hatha Yoga	The yoga intervention will last eight weeks and include two 90-minute sessions each week. Each yoga session will consist of the same series of 26 Hatha yoga postures, two breathing exercise, and two savasanas (i.e., a resting/relaxation posture), in a room heated to 104 degrees Fahrenheit, which aids in safe muscle stretching. Each participant will be given a yoga studio scan card valid for two months, and, like all yoga studio members, they will be required to scan their card prior to their yoga class.

Timeline

• Start date: 2012-02-01
• Primary completion: 2013-09-01
• Completion: 2013-09-01
• First posted: 2012-07-30
• Last updated: 2015-01-14

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States