Abstract

Background and Objectives: Chronic stress contributes to psychopathology and the practise of yoga is suggested to decrease stress and improve well-being. However, the literature often reports methodological problems (cross-sectional designs, sample sizes ≤ 20, and limited exploration of community populations). The aim of this study was to address these limitations and evaluate the potential psychological benefits of yoga to a non-clinical population. Methods: Women (N = 116) reporting chronic stress participated in this longitudinal study. Participants were allocated to a twice-weekly, hour-long yoga class for a period of two months, or a waitlist-control. Indicators of psychological well-being were measured at baseline, post-test and one-month follow-up. Results: Psychological distress decreased over time in both groups, however the control group experienced decreases in positive effect compared with the yoga group. Curvilinear trends were observed, indicating that trajectories of improvement seen at post-test were not robustly seen at follow-up. Conclusion: The study indicates that short-term yoga practise may yield some benefits to stressed individuals, but that evaluation over a longer term of practise may be required to determine the optimal dose for improvements and maintenance. Differential treatment effects may be difficult to detect in studies with populations that may already be motivated to improve their health.

Details

Title
The longitudinal mental health benefits of a yoga intervention in women experiencing chronic stress: A clinical trial
Author
Harkess, Kaitlin N 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Delfabbro, Paul 2 ; Cohen-Woods, Sarah 3 

1  Department of Psychology, The University of Adelaide, Level 4, Hughes Building, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia 
2  School of Psychology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia 
3  Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, School of Psychology, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia 
Publication year
2016
Publication date
Dec 2016
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Ltd.
e-ISSN
23311908
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2016.1256037
ProQuest document ID
1862754822
Copyright
© 2016 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.