The Effect of Laughter Yoga on Spiritual Care Perception and Spiritual Well Being in Nursing Students

Can Laughter Heal the Spirit? The Impact of Laughter Yoga on Spiritual Well-Being and Spiritual Care Perception in Nursing Students

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if laughter yoga sessions improve spiritual well-being and perception of spiritual care among nursing students. The main questions it aims to answer are:

Does laughter yoga increase the spiritual well-being scores of participants? Does laughter yoga improve participants' perception of spiritual care? Researchers will compare laughter yoga to no intervention (control group) to see if laughter yoga has an effect on spiritual well-being and spiritual care perception.

Participants will:

Attend laughter yoga sessions once a week for 4 weeks (intervention group) Complete questionnaires about their spiritual well-being and perception of spiritual care before and after the intervention Control group will not receive any intervention during this period, but will complete the same questionnaires at the same time points

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Spirituality; Laughter Yoga; Spiritual Well-being
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Laughter Yoga

Detailed Description

This randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the effects of laughter yoga on spiritual well-being and perception of spiritual care among nursing students. The study uses a pretest-posttest control group design. A total of 60 nursing students in their third and fourth years were randomly assigned to either the intervention group or the control group, with 30 students in each group.

The intervention group will participate in laughter yoga sessions once a week for 4 weeks. Each session will last approximately 30 minutes and will be conducted by a certified laughter yoga leader in a quiet classroom environment where students can move freely. The control group will not receive any intervention during the study period.

Spiritual well-being will be measured using the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) and perception of spiritual care will be measured using the Spiritual Care-Giving Scale (SCGS). Both scales will be administered before the intervention (pretest) and after the 4-week intervention period (posttest).

The study hypothesizes that laughter yoga will significantly increase spiritual well-being scores and improve students' perception of spiritual care compared to the control group.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 60
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Turkey
  • Konak
    • Izmir, Konak, Turkey, 35250
      • Izmir Democracy University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Being a third- or fourth-year nursing student enrolled in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing at Izmir Demokrasi University during the 2024-2025 academic year
• Volunteering to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Irregular attendance to the intervention sessions
• Failure to complete all sessions
• Voluntary withdrawal from the study
• Having a diagnosis of a respiratory disease (e.g., asthma, bronchitis, dyspnea)
• Having a diagnosis of inguinal hernia or epilepsy
• Having undergone abdominal surgery within the last three to six months

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Laughter Yoga Intervention; Participants in this arm will attend laughter yoga sessions once a week for 4 weeks. Each session will last approximately 30 minutes and will be conducted by a certified laughter yoga leader in a quiet classroom environment where participants can move freely. The intervention aims to improve spiritual well-being and perception of spiritual care among nursing students.	Other: Laughter Yoga; The laughter yoga intervention consists of four sessions conducted once a week for four weeks. Each session lasts approximately 30 minutes and includes four components: Warm-up exercises with clapping and rhythmic movements; Deep breathing exercises; Childlike playful activities and laughter exercises; Laughter meditation and relaxation Sessions are led by a certified laughter yoga leader in a quiet classroom setting that allows participants to move freely and comfortably. The intervention is designed to improve spiritual well-being and perception of spiritual care among nursing students.
No Intervention: Control Group; Participants in this arm will not receive any intervention during the 4-week study period. They will complete the same pretest and posttest questionnaires as the intervention group, at the same time points, to evaluate their spiritual well-being and perception of spiritual care.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Spiritual Well-Being Score	Spiritual well-being will be measured using the Three-Factor Spiritual Well-Being Scale, which has a total score range from 29 to 145, with higher scores indicating greater spiritual well-being.	1 week before intervention (baseline) and 1 week after completing the fourth session (Week 5)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale Score	Perception of spirituality and spiritual care will be assessed using the Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale, which is scored on a 1 to 5 scale, with higher scores indicating a more positive perception of spirituality and spiritual care.	1 week before intervention (baseline) and 1 week after completing the fourth session (Week 5)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Izmir Democracy University
• Investigators: Study Director: Sadiye Associate Professor, PhD, Izmir Democracy University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 20, 2024
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 21, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): November 25, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 2, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 11, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): July 14, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 14, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 11, 2025
• Last Verified: July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Nursing; Spiritual- Well Being; spiritual care; laugther yoga
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2024/6-20

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: Individual participant data (IPD) will not be shared because the data are part of a thesis study with limited scope and there is no current plan or institutional repository available for data sharing. Additionally, participant privacy and confidentiality cannot be ensured for sharing de-identified data at this time.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No