Anxiety, Depression, Mood, Resilience, Stress, Wellbeing
Conditions
Keywords
yoga stress anxiety depression wellbeing COVID
Brief summary
The study evaluates the effectiveness of yoga practices on reducing stress, negative emotion, anxiety, and depression and on increasing positive emotion, wellbeing and resilience. The study uses randomized wait-list control. All U.S. undergraduate students in 4-year universities and colleges age 18 or older are eligible to participate.
Detailed description
The purpose of this project is to widely disseminate a system of yoga tools to university students, faculty, and staff internationally to buffer the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent study finds that stress, anxiety, and depression are the major psychological responses to COVID-19 during the early outbreaks in China (Wang et al., 2020). Globally, universities have closed campuses and moved learning, teaching, and working online with a very short notice. CDC suggests that keeping physically active and meditation are among the key activities to maintain a strong immune system and mental health during quarantine. Studies have documented physical and mental benefits of yoga practices (Balasubramaniam, Telles, & Doraiswamy, 2013; Brems, 2015; Brunner, Abramovitch, & Etherton, 2017; Büssing, Michalsen, Telles, Sherman, & Khalsa, 2012) This project introduces a system of yoga tools to buffer the psychological impact of COVID-19. This system of yoga tools is designed by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, a yogi, mystic, author, and founder of the Isha Foundation. The Isha foundation is a volunteer-based international non-profit organization, offering yoga and meditation programs for human wellbeing and global harmony. In partnership with the Isha Foundation and Harvard University Medical School, the study will document the short-term and long-term effects of these yogic practices on stress, mood, wellbeing, resilience, and academic engagement for students and work engagement for faculty and staff during this challenging time.
Interventions
OTHERYoga
Yoga Namaskar and Nadi Shuddhi
Sponsors
Harvard Medical School (HMS and HSDM)
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
Randomized waitlist control cross over
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* 18 or older * Enrolled in 4-year universities/colleges in 2020 * Not graduate in May 2020
Exclusion criteria
* Younger than 18 * Not enrolled in 4-year universities/colleges in 2020 * Graduate in May 2020
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Stress | Change from baseline stress at 1-Month | 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), score 0-40, higher the score, higher stress |
| Wellbeing | Change from baseline wellbeing in 2-week | 14-item Warwick-Edinburgh Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS), score14-70, higher score higher wellbeing |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Resilience | Change from baseline resilience in 1-month | 6-item Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), score 6-30, higher score higher resilience |
| Anxiety | Change from baseline anxiety in 2-week | 2-item PHQ-4, score 2-8, higher score higher anxiety |
| Negative Affect | Change from baseline negative affect in 2-week | 10-item Negative Affect Scale, score - 10 to 50, higher score higher negative affect |
| Positive Affect | Change from baseline positive affect in 2-week | 10-item Positive Affect Scale, score - 10 to 50, higher score more positive affect |
| Depression | Change from baseline depression in 2-week | 2-item PHQ-4, score 2-8, higher score higher depression |
Countries
United States
Contacts
Primary ContactTracy F Chang, Ph.D.
Outcome results
None listed