The Effect of Tai Chi Exercise on Stress, Anxiety, Depression, and Self Confidence of Nursing Students

Abstract

Background: Students in medical sciences, especially nursing students, deal with many stressful factors. Stress-related psychological outcomes include anxiety, depression, and low self-confidence. Nowadays, sports exercises play a crucial role in improving lifestyle to prevent and manage stress and its consequences. Objectives: The present study intended to investigate the effect of Tai Chi exercise on the levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and self-confidence of nursing students. Methods: To this end, about 64 nursing students were selected and randomly divided into two 32 case and control groups in this clinical trial study. The case (experimental) group received 40-minute Tai chi training sessions three times a week for 8 weeks. Both groups completed DASS-42 questionnaire and Eysenck’s Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) as a pre-test, post-test, and one-month follow-up. Results: The results of the present study indicated that unlike the control group, the total mean score of stress, anxiety, and depression significantly decreased in the case group (P < 0.05), while self-confidence significantly increased in the case group during the pretest, post-test, and one-month follow-up (P < 0.05). Conclusions: According to the results of the present study, it can be concluded that Tai Chi had a significant effect on reducing the stress, anxiety, and depression while enhancing the self-confidence of the intended nursing students. Furthermore, Tai Chi is recommended as a simple and inexpensive way to reduce students’ stress, anxiety, and depression, whereas improves their self-confidence.