The Effects of Yoga on Student Mental Health

February 4, 2020 updated by: Tiril Elstad, University of Oslo

The Effects of Yoga on Student Mental Health: A Randomised Controlled Trial

The investigators performed a randomised controlled trial with 202 healthy university students in the Oslo area, with 50:50 in a yoga intervention group and a waitlist control group. Measures included symptoms of depression and anxiety, sleep problems, heart rate variability (HRV), well-being and mindfulness at week 0 (baseline), week 12 (post-intervention) and week 24 (follow-up).

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Universities around the world are facing an epidemic of mental health problems among their students. The problem is truly a public health issue, affecting many and with serious consequences. Moreover, the global burden of disease-agenda calls for effective interventions with lasting effects that have the potential to improve the mental health of young adults. In this study the investigators aimed to determine whether yoga, a popular and widely available mind-body practice, can improve student mental health.

The participants were randomly assigned to a yoga group or waitlist control group in a 1:1 ratio by a simple online randomisation program. The intervention group was offered 24 yoga sessions over 12 weeks. Measurements were taken at week 0 (baseline), week 12 (post-intervention), and week 24 (follow-up). The primary outcome was psychological distress assessed by the HSCL-25 questionnaire. Analysis was performed based on the intention to treat-principle.

The methods were laid out in a protocol, previously published on the website of the study. (available at http://yogastudy.tilda.ws/). The planned analyses were very straightforward and included a description of the study participants, and simple analyses of each of the a priori selected outcome measures. We have not included or excluded any variables post-hoc.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

202

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Norway
      • Oslo, Norway
        • University of Oslo

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Living in the Oslo area

Exclusion Criteria:

  • No serious mental health diagnoses
  • No recent major life crisis
  • No systematic yoga practice during the prior six months

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: PREVENTION
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: DOUBLE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Intervention group
The intervention group received a yoga course for 12 weeks, two times a week. Each yoga class was 1.25 hr in duration.
Behavioral: Yoga group
The intervention group received yoga 2 times a week for 12 weeks (á 1.25 hr).
Other Names:
  • Intervention group
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Control group waitlist
The control group were on a waitlist during the period of measurements, and received the same yoga course after all measurements had been completed.
Behavioral: yoga course
yoga course

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Psychological Distress
Time Frame: Week 0 (baseline), week 12 (post-intervention) and week 24 (follow-up)
Measured with the Hopkins Symptom Checklist 25 (HSCL-25) questionnaire. Consists of 25 items on symptoms of depression and anxiety, each rated on a 1 (not at all) to 4 (very much) scale. Total scores range from 1 to 4, a higher score indicating more psychological distress.
Week 0 (baseline), week 12 (post-intervention) and week 24 (follow-up)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
Time Frame: Week 0 (baseline) and week 12 (post-intervention)
Measured with nocturnal RMSSD (root mean square of successive differences), which is a validated measure of activity in the parasympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system. In general, an increase in RMSSD is associated with increased parasympathetic system activity and less distress.
Week 0 (baseline) and week 12 (post-intervention)
Change in Mental Well-being
Time Frame: Week 0 (baseline), week 12 (post-intervention) and week 24 (follow-up).
Measured with the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS), a 14-item Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS). This scale has five response categories (from "not at all" to "all the time") that are added together to produce a total score ranging from 14 to 70. Higher scores indicate higher levels of mental well-being.
Week 0 (baseline), week 12 (post-intervention) and week 24 (follow-up).
Change in Life Satisfaction
Time Frame: week 0 (baseline), week 12 (post-intervention) and week 24 (follow-up).
Measured with the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), a 5-item questionnaire. Items are scored on a 1- to 7-point Likert scale. The total score is computed by adding all response values (ranging from 5 to 35), with higher scores indicating higher satisfaction.
week 0 (baseline), week 12 (post-intervention) and week 24 (follow-up).
Change in Mindfulness
Time Frame: Week 0 (baseline), week 12 (post-intervention) and week 24 (follow-up).
Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, MAAS, a 15-item scale. The total score was computed by adding the score value on all individual items, producing a total score ranging from 15 to 75, with higher scores indicating higher levels of mindfulness.
Week 0 (baseline), week 12 (post-intervention) and week 24 (follow-up).
Change in Sleep Problems
Time Frame: Week 0 (baseline), week 12 (post-intervention) and week 24 (follow-up).
The investigators used the Bergen Insomnia Scale (BIS), a 6-item scale. Scores from 0 (no bad nights during the course of a week) to 7 (all nights) give a total score ranging from 0 to 42 (higher scores indicating more troubled sleep and daytime tiredness).
Week 0 (baseline), week 12 (post-intervention) and week 24 (follow-up).

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Oslo

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Tiril Elstad, MA (hon), University of Oslo

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (ACTUAL)

December 16, 2016

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

February 20, 2018

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

February 20, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 3, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 4, 2020

First Posted (ACTUAL)

February 6, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

February 6, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 4, 2020

Last Verified

February 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2016/1751 C

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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