The Effect of Laughter Therapy on Marital Adjustment, Life Satisfaction and Maternal Attachment Level in Mothers

NCT ID: NCT06917417

Last Updated: 2025-04-08

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

90 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2025-03-01

Study Completion Date

2025-06-25

Brief Summary

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The postnatal period is a fragile period with physical and psychological changes as well as hormonal changes in the mother. Mind-body based complementary practices such as yoga, meditation, relaxation exercises can be used to improve well-being and facilitate adaptation to the changes experienced during this period. Among these practices, laughter yoga is new, simple, cost-effective, non-invasive, widely available online and easily applicable/accessible. In studies, individuals in different populations from children to the elderly have proven that laughter therapy interventions cause improvement in mood and life satisfaction. Looking at the literature, studies on laughter therapy in Turkey are limited and no study has been found on this subject. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the effect of laughter therapy given to mothers in the postnatal period on partner adjustment, life satisfaction and maternal attachment level in mothers. It is thought that this study will make a very important contribution to the literature.

Detailed Description

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The postnatal period is a fragile period with physical and psychological changes as well as hormonal changes in the mother. In the transition to parenthood in the postnatal period, expectant parents experience changes that have important effects on the couple's relationship, the baby-parent relationship and the development of the baby. The positive relationship and harmony of the spouses are important in raising a child. Maternal attachment starts in the prenatal period and reaches the highest level in the postnatal period. It is known that inadequate maternal attachment to the baby poses a threat to the healthy development and well-being of the baby. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the psycho-social welfare of the mother in the postnatal period, to evaluate the level of mother-infant attachment and to make effective midwifery interventions.

Studies in the literature have documented the positive role of laughter in improving quality of life. In addition, it was determined that laughter therapy intervention during pregnancy increased the mental well-being of pregnant women and positively affected prenatal attachment levels. Laughter therapy can be used for both preventive and therapeutic purposes. Poor mental health of the mother poses a danger to the baby and the mother. Studies on laughter therapy are limited in Turkey. In order to increase evidence-based data, there is a need to investigate the potential effectiveness of laughter therapy interventions in terms of mothers' health. It is thought that this study will make a very important contribution to the literature.

Conditions

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Postpartum Mothers

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

After randomisation, a WhatsApp group will be established with the mothers in the laughter therapy group. Before starting the application, the 'Zoom' programme will be downloaded to the phone or computer of the mothers in the laughter therapy group. A WhatsApp group will be formed with at least 5-10 people, and a total of 10 sessions of laughter therapy will be applied with the groups for 5 weeks, 2 sessions per week. No intervention will be made to the control group, and they will be asked to fill in the questionnaire forms simultaneously.
Primary Study Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Blinding Strategy

DOUBLE

Participants Outcome Assessors
In the study, the researcher will apply the intervention to the laughter therapy group. Therefore, researcher blinding will not be performed. In the study, a single blinding method in which the participants are blinded will be used. In order to prevent detection bias, data collection forms will be collected by the interviewer who has no knowledge about the research groups. In order to prevent reporting bias, the data obtained from the research will be coded as A and B by an independent researcher and transferred to the SPSS programme, and the analysis of the data coded in terms of groups will be carried out by an independent statistical expert.

Study Groups

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laughter therapy group

After randomization, a WhatsApp group will be established with the mothers in the laughter therapy group. Before starting the application, the "Zoom" program will be downloaded to the phone or computer of the mothers in the laughter therapy group. Groups will be formed with at least 5-10 people, and a total of 10 sessions of laughter therapy will be applied to the groups, 2 sessions per week for 5 weeks.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Laughter Therapy

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

A laughter yoga session; It is approximately 30 minutes and consists of four parts. These sections; hand clapping and warm-up exercises, deep breathing exercises, childish games and laughter exercises. In each laughter yoga session, the first three parts are the same, but the laughter exercises in the fourth part vary. In the first session of each new group, the introduction of laughter yoga, its purpose and objectives will be discussed. 10 minutes will be allocated for this section in the first session of each group. Therefore, the first session is planned to be 40 minutes in each group and all subsequent sessions are planned to be 30 minutes.

control group

The control group will not be subjected to any intervention and will be asked to fill out the questionnaire forms simultaneously.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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Laughter Therapy

A laughter yoga session; It is approximately 30 minutes and consists of four parts. These sections; hand clapping and warm-up exercises, deep breathing exercises, childish games and laughter exercises. In each laughter yoga session, the first three parts are the same, but the laughter exercises in the fourth part vary. In the first session of each new group, the introduction of laughter yoga, its purpose and objectives will be discussed. 10 minutes will be allocated for this section in the first session of each group. Therefore, the first session is planned to be 40 minutes in each group and all subsequent sessions are planned to be 30 minutes.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* At least primary school graduate
* Over 18 years of age
* Volunteer to participate in the research
* Heterosexual
* With a spouse or partner
* At term
* With a single, healthy baby
* Have not had any intra-abdominal surgery
* With a 1-12 month postpartum baby
* Women who can use the Zoom program

Exclusion Criteria

* Those who do not speak Turkish,
* Those with hearing and visual impairments,
* Those with mental disabilities,
* Those diagnosed with known psychiatric diseases,
* Mothers of babies with disabilities and chronic health problems
* Women with physical illnesses that prevent them from participating in Laughter Yoga sessions (breathing difficulties, persistent cough, vertigo, severe heart disease, hemorrhoids, any type of hernia such as neck, waist or inguinal hernia, severe back pain, urinary incontinence, epilepsy, etc.)
* Women who develop an acute health problem for themselves or their babies, who have had their mothers or babies suddenly hospitalized, who have lost their babies, who have separated from their spouses or partners, who do not attend laughter therapy sessions regularly, and who cannot be reached after the application will be excluded from the study.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

FEMALE

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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Selcuk University Scientific Research Projects Unit

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role collaborator

Selcuk University

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Havva Tokgöz Kekeç

PhD Student, Msc Midwife

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

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Selçuk University Faculty of Medicine Hospital

Konya, Selçuklu, Turkey (Türkiye)

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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Turkey (Türkiye)

Central Contacts

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Havva Tokgöz Kekeç, PhD Student

Role: CONTACT

+905061550317

Hacer ALAN DİKMEN, (Associate Professor)

Role: CONTACT

+905449491300

Facility Contacts

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Havva Tokgöz Kekeç

Role: primary

05061550317

References

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van der Wal CN, Kok RN. Laughter-inducing therapies: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Soc Sci Med. 2019 Jul;232:473-488. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.02.018. Epub 2019 Mar 5.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 31029483 (View on PubMed)

Spanier GB (1976). Measuring dyadic adjustment: A newscales for assessing the quality of marriage and similar dyads. Journal of Marriage and the Family; 38: 15-28.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Scott JK, Nelson JA, Dix T. Interdependence among mothers, fathers, and children from early to middle childhood: Parents' sensitivity and children's externalizing behavior. Dev Psychol. 2018 Aug;54(8):1528-1541. doi: 10.1037/dev0000525. Epub 2018 Jun 21.

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PMID: 33438464 (View on PubMed)

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Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 37303065 (View on PubMed)

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PMID: 8656307 (View on PubMed)

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Reference Type BACKGROUND

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Reference Type BACKGROUND

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Reference Type BACKGROUND

Ko Y, Park S. A pilot randomized controlled trial of distance laughter therapy for mothers' level of depression, anxiety, and parental stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. PLoS One. 2023 Jul 14;18(7):e0288246. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288246. eCollection 2023.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 37450484 (View on PubMed)

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Reference Type BACKGROUND

Holmes EK, Sasaki T, & Hazen NL. (2013). Smooth versus rocky transitions to parenthood: Family systems in developmental context. Family Relations, 62, 824-837. 10.1111/fare.12041

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Diener E, Emmons RA, Larsen RJ, Griffin S. The Satisfaction With Life Scale. J Pers Assess. 1985 Feb;49(1):71-5. doi: 10.1207/s15327752jpa4901_13.

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Reference Type BACKGROUND

Si S Celi K A, Kilinc T. The effect of laughter yoga on perceived stress, burnout, and life satisfaction in nurses during the pandemic: A randomized controlled trial. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2022 Nov;49:101637. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2022.101637. Epub 2022 Jul 5.

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Agapinar Sahin S, Bekar M. The influence of laughter yoga on pregnancy symptoms, mental well-being, and prenatal attachment: A randomized controlled study. Health Care Women Int. 2023 Jun;44(6):782-801. doi: 10.1080/07399332.2022.2164284. Epub 2023 Jan 10.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
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Other Identifiers

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2024/617

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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