Study of the effectiveness of laughter yoga on the symptom checklist (SCL-90-R) of Youths suffering from Trichotillomania (Hair-pulling disorder)

Abstract

Everyone has heard the adage that ‘Laughter is the best medicine’ or ‘Laughter is the incurable pain medication‘. Laughter has been associated with a number of physiological and psychological benefits. Laughter yoga (LY) is a contemporary technique that encourages participants to mimic the act of laughing, with the goal of achieving positive psychological outcomes. The study intended to evaluate the effectiveness of laughter yoga on the symptom checklist (SCL-90-R) of youths suffering from Trichotillomania (Hair-pulling disorder). Mached pairs or case control study design. The statistical method is a Paired samples T-test (Quantitative variables, interval level of measurement). Data analysis was down with using Version IBM SPSS Statistics study done in Tehran laughter yoga centers. The target population includes all youths (girls and boys) ages between 14 to 20 that suffering from Trichotillomania (TTM) that participating in Tehran laughter yoga centers's classes in between November 2014 to February 2015. Laughter yoga is done in groups, with eye contact and playfulness between participants that received 8 weeks LY (3 sessions per week, each session; 45 minutes). The findings showed a significant difference in the mean scores of before and after laughter Yoga intervention in the group of youths suffering from Trichotillomania (Hair-pulling disorder). The findings showed that laughter Yoga had a positive effect on reducing the symptom checklist (SCL-90-R) of youths suffering from Trichotillomania (Hair-pulling disorder) in 8 weeks (3 sessions per week, each session; 45 minutes).