Humor Interventions Research Articles

Изменения чувства юмора при аффективных расстройствах: «дефицит», «патологическая защита», «маска»

<p style="text-align: justify;">Relevance. The present article provides an analysis of changes in the sense of humor in patients with affective disorders. The necessity of this research is due to the emergence of new findings and the insufficient systematization of the scientific data in this field, despite the fact that methods of psychosocial rehabilitation using humor and laughter are being actively developed. The present research is aimed at summarizing and systematizing existing data on the characteristics of the sense of humor in patients with affective disorders. Results. Three theoretical approaches to understanding the specifics of humor’s changes in patients with affective disorders are proposed: «deficit», «pathological defense» and «mask». The «deficit» model describes humor’s characteristics accompanying depressive syndrome. The ones in the foreground are: a decreased affective response to humor, a reduced tendency to engage in humorous interaction with others and to use humor as a coping strategy. In manic and hypomanic states, humor functions as a «pathological defense», blocking negative emotions and stimulating positive ones. In «smiling» depression, the meaning of smiling and laughter can be characterized as a «mask»: their main goal here is to reduce the significance or to hide completely a patient’s inner feelings from others. Also, affective disorders are accompanied by an increased interest in depressive humor. Presumably, it functions as a compensation for a decrease in the use of humor in general as an emotion regulation strategy. Conclusions. Changes in the sense of humor in patients with affective disorders are heterogeneous. Understanding their specifics may be used to improve modern psychosocial therapy programs focused on humor interventions and techniques. It may also be used as an additional diagnostic tool.</p>

Evaluation of a Study Protocol of the Application of Humor Interventions in Palliative Care Through a First Pilot Study.

Humor and laughter might have an alleviating effect on pain threshold and enhance coping and building relationships. However, randomized controlled studies in palliative care have struggled with high percentages of attrition and missing values. We aimed to evaluate a study protocol through a pilot study for the evaluation of a multistage humor intervention with psychological and physiological outcome parameters that may be applied successfully in a palliative care environment. This pilot study utilized a pre-post design. The inclusion of a control group for the final study setting recruiting 120 patients is planned. The study was a monocenter study in a clinic for palliative care in Germany. All patients were eligible for recruitment. Seven patients were recruited for the pilot study. Interventions were developed using a humor training for psychiatric patients. Quantitative sensory testing for pain threshold testing and questionnaires on humor as a character trait, pain intensity, life satisfaction, and symptom burden were planned to be evaluated before and after three humor interventions. The feasibility of the original study design was re-evaluated after pilot testing. Only two out of the seven patients were able to complete two interventions, requiring modification. Fewer questionnaires, less complex physiological testing, and reduction from three to two interventions were then planned. The initial planned research methodology must be adjusted for patients with high symptom burden. In the experimental group of the final study setting, the effects of one to two interventions will be evaluated measuring oxytocin levels in saliva and using standardized questionnaires to determine cheerfulness, life satisfaction and symptom burden, as well as assessing as-needed medication. DRKS00028978 German Registry of Clinical Studies.

The Effects of Humor Intervention on Teenagers’ Sense of Humor, Positive Emotions, and Learning Ability: A Positive Psychological Perspective

The Effects of Humor Intervention on Teenagers’ Sense of Humor, Positive Emotions, and Learning Ability: A Positive Psychological Perspective

Humour interventions for patients in palliative care—a randomized controlled trial

PurposeThe effect of humour on end-of-life patients could be beneficial and is worth investigating. However, data on humour interventions for patients in palliative care are scarce. This study evaluated the effects of a humour intervention in a palliative care setting.MethodsA two-step intervention was developed based on the humour habits programme by McGhee. Patients were assisted to remember funny episodes from their past and recognize humorous aspects of the present and encouraged to produce humour. The intervention and control group completed questionnaires on life satisfaction, cheerfulness, symptom burden, and perceived stress and if possible gave saliva samples to investigate oxytocin levels. The study was a randomized controlled monocentre study on patients treated in a palliative care ward. Participants had to be conscious and alert enough to complete data collection. Overall, 55 patients were included and randomized to the intervention or control group.ResultsParameters in the control group did not change significantly. In the intervention group, seriousness, bad mood, and stress were reduced. Cheerfulness increased significantly after the intervention. However, the methodologically complex intervention setting was too exhausting for the majority of patients.ConclusionPatients who were able to participate benefited from the effects of the intervention on multiple levels. For future research simple interventions, biomarkers for well-being and assessments by staff or proxies are needed to include patients with reduced cognitive and physical performance status at the end of their lives.Trial registrationDRKS00028978 German Registry of Clinical Studies.

Review of Humour Interventions to Reduce Stress, Anxiety, and Depression in Adults

Humour interventions can be utilized for improving health status or as complementary therapy for physical, emotional, cognitive, social, or spiritual illnesses. The aim of this review is to identify the effectiveness of humour interventions on depression, anxiety, and stress in adults. Articles published from 2015 to 2020 were searched from various databases. The PRISMA strategy was utilized to identify articles that met the inclusion criteria. The search resulted in 1701 studies, although only sixteen studies were eligible for final review. Humour interventions are safe, inexpensive, and easy to use, and contribute greatly to reducing stress, anxiety, and depression in the adult population. The types of humour intervention are indirect humour, direct humour, social humour, and self-humiliating humour. All humour interventions were of planned humour. Planned humour was the most usable in all studies. It is recommended that more high-quality studies and follow-up assessments should be carried out for future research.

Evaluation of aHumor Training for Patients with Chronic Pain: ARandomized Clinical Trial.

BackgroundHumor and laughter are positively associated with psychological as well as with physical well-being. As there is little research examining to what extent patients suffering from chronic pain could benefit from a humor intervention, the goal of this study was to develop a pain-specific humor training and to evaluate its feasibility and effectiveness as component of regular, multimodal pain therapy.Patients and MethodsPatients from inpatient treatment groups for chronic pain in a German hospital were randomly assigned to the training group (final n = 62) and the control group (final n = 65). The training consisted of four sessions that were implemented in the usual therapy throughout two weeks. Outcomes were divided into primary (perceived current pain intensity and depression) and secondary ones (quality of life impairment by pain, cheerfulness, and self-enhancing humor) and were assessed prior to and after intervention.ResultsResults showed improvements in all outcomes for both groups. For primary outcomes, a trend for a greater reduction in current pain intensity was found for the training group compared to the control group (p = 0.060, η2p = 0.02), as well as, for secondary outcomes, a trend for greater reduction of quality of life impairment by pain (p = 0.079, η2p = 0.02) and a trend for greater increase in self-enhancing humor (p = 0.086, η2p = 0.02). Depression and cheerfulness remained unaffected. Feedback indicated feasibility of the training within multimodal therapy, showing overall acceptance as well as providing specific suggestions for improvement.ConclusionAs the first study evaluating a specific humor training for patients with chronic pain within a randomized controlled trial, its results are promising regarding an additional contribution that humor interventions can make towards multimodal pain therapy.

The Effect of Humor Intervention Program on Positive and Negative Symptoms among Schizophrenic Patients

Background: Non-specifically pain in the low back occurs in 85% percent of population. Examples like Posterior to anterior mobilization and press up exercises are rapidly used as most common physical therapy intervention for the reduction of pain in low back. Aim: Major purpose of this study is to find out the influence of posterior to anterior mobilization of spine and prone press-ups exercises in reduction of pain due to nonspecific reasons in low back. Materials and Methods: The design of this study conducted was randomized clinical trial. Thirty subjects who fulfill the inclusion criteria were chosen subjectively from the department of physical therapy of Ayesha Hospital Lahore. Duration of study was six months, from November 2020 to April 2021. Two groups were made with selection of fifteen participants in each group. Posterior to anterior glides to lumber spine combined with the inclined press up's exercises of lumber was given to group II. Subjects chosen in group II were observed before the treatment started and after the completion of the treatment for NPRS and utilitarian incapacity. The posterior to anterior glide to lumber spine was given to the participants of group I. participants of group I were also examined before the start of the treatment and after the completion of entire treatment and NPRS along with functional incapacity were also observed at the end of the treatment. Results: Pain in low back spine is decreased in both of the selected groups I and II. Statistical importance occurs in results of both the groups in all its limitations. Both groups were similar in normality measurement values with p-value>0.05. Conclusion: Posterior to anterior mobilization and press-up exercises can be used as effective Keywords: Nonspecific pain in low back, prone press up exercises, posterior to anterior mobilization of spine.

The Effect of Humor Intervention Program on Positive and Negative Symptoms among Schizophrenic Patients

Background: Schizophrenia is a chronic disease characterized by distortions in thinking, perception, emotions, language, sense of self and behavior. Humor could be used as an alternative to conventional treatment with the goal of helping patients with schizophrenia cope with symptoms, enhance recovery through its emotional, cognitive, social and physiological effects. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of humor intervention program on positive and negative symptoms among schizophrenic patients. Design: Randomized control trial (RCT) design was used. Sample: Purposive sample consisted of 40) schizophrenic patients, the study group (n= 20) and control group (n= 20). The patients were selected and allocated randomly into two groups, intervention group (received the humor interventions program) and control group (received traditional care). The study conducted in the Psychiatry and Addiction Prevention "El Kasr AlAini University Hospital and al Rakhawy Hospital for Mental Health. Tools: three tools were used for data collection were; the Socio Demographic Data Sheet, Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale (MSHS). Results: revealed that, there was a statistical significant difference between total score of PANSS between study and control groups post intervention. Conclusion: The present study emphasizes the importance of humor intervention program in reducing severity of symptoms of patients with schizophrenia. Key words: schizophrenia, humor intervention, positive symptoms, negative symptoms

Care for Joy: Evaluation of a Humor Intervention and Its Effects on Stress, Flow Experience, Work Enjoyment, and Meaningfulness of Work.

The media increasingly speak of a care crisis. Systematic support is needed to prepare nursing apprentices for the high demands of their profession and to reduce the number of nurses who finally quit. Particularly in stressful jobs like nursing, humor as a coping strategy can have a beneficial effect on perceived stress and overall work enjoyment. In this study, we used a humor intervention among nursing staff in training and evaluated its effects on humor, stress, work enjoyment, the meaningfulness of work, and flow experience. The sample consists of 104 nurses in training. The intervention group received a 3-h humor intervention, while the control group received no intervention. Positive and negative affect were measured immediately before and after the intervention. Humor was measured before the intervention (t0) and again 6 months later (t1); at t1, we again measured humor and also stress, work meaningfulness, work enjoyment, and flow experience. Our analyses showed a beneficial change in positive and negative affect right after the intervention. By means of repeated measures ANOVA we could further confirm an effect of the intervention on reported humor 6 months later. Humor mediated positive effects of the humor intervention on perceived meaningfulness of work, work enjoyment, and on the frequency of flow at work. Also, we found a significant negative relationship between humor and stress measured at t1. The results of this study confirm the effectiveness of humor interventions in promoting humor, and, through this, the meaningfulness of work, work enjoyment, and the frequency of flow experience. Implications of the use of humor interventions in the nursing profession are discussed.

A short humorous intervention protects against subsequent psychological stress and attenuates cortisol levels without affecting attention

Presentation of humor simultaneously with a stressful event has been shown to dampen the psychological and physiological responses of stress. However, whether a relatively short humorous intervention can be utilized to prevent the subsequent stress processing is still underinvestigated. Furthermore, it is unknown, whether such a humor intervention changes stress processing at a cost of cognitive functioning. According to the broaden-and-build theory inducing positive emotions may subsequently impact cognitive performance. Here, we investigated whether humor protects against subsequent stressors by attenuating both, psychological and physiological stress levels and whether this affects cognitive performance. Participants watched either a humorous or a neutral movie, underwent stress induction and performed in a visual search task. Compared to the control group, psychological stress levels and salivary cortisol levels were lower in the humor group, yet no differences were found in response times and accuracy rates for the visual search task. Our results demonstrate that a short humorous intervention shields against subsequent psychological stress leaving cognitive performance intact, thus making it highly applicable to improve mental and physical health in everyday life situations.

Effect of humour intervention programme on depression, anxiety, subjective well-being, cognitive function and sleep quality in Chinese nursing home residents.

To evaluate the effect of an 8-week humour intervention programme on reducing depression and anxiety and improving subjective well-being, cognitive function and sleep quality in nursing home residents. A single-blinded and quasi-experimental design with repeated measures. Seventy-four older adults were recruited from May 2018-September 2018, with 37 older adults in the humour group received humour intervention and 37 in the control group received no intervention. The intervention was an 8-week humour intervention programme for older adults to learn to use humour and release their emotions. Primary outcomes include depression, anxiety and subjective well-being and secondary outcomes were cognitive function and sleep quality. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA was used to compare the differences of outcome measures between the two groups. Outcomes were measured at baseline, 8 and 16weeks. There was no significant difference between the two groups at baseline. The adherence to the sessions of humour intervention over the 8-weeks was 97.6%. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant improvement in depression, anxiety, subjective well-being and sleep quality during the postintervention (8weeks) and follow-up (16weeks) periods in the humour group versus the control group. However, a significant time×group interaction for cognitive function was only found during postintervention. The humour intervention programme was effective in reducing depression and anxiety symptoms and increasing subjective well-being, cognitive function and sleep quality in older adults. Physical and mental health problems are common among older adults in nursing homes. The study demonstrated that humour intervention has feasibility and potential to be used as an effective non-pharmacological intervention in improving well-beings of Chinese nursing home residents. ChiCTR1800016148.

Beyond the motor account of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Verbal humour and its relationship with the cognitive and pragmatic profile.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) was traditionally described as a disease restricted to the motor system. However, recent findings suggested that it also affects cognition, especially executive functions, social cognition, language and pragmatics. A relevant issue in current research is thus the description of the cognitive phenotype of ALS and the identification of the most vulnerable aspects. The focus was on a communicative phenomenon placed at the crossroads of pragmatic and other cognitive domains, namely humour, which till now has been poorly explored in ALS. The first aim was to investigate whether ALS is associated with impairments in understanding and appreciating jokes. The second aim was to explore the predictors of humour comprehension and appreciation in patients, to confirm the involvement of pragmatic skills and to explore the role of other cognitive and clinical aspects. A total of 30 non-demented patients with ALS and 27 controls were assessed with a task of verbal humour comprehension and appreciation, including two types of jokes: phonological and mental. We also administered a battery of pragmatic and other language tasks, and cognitive and socio-cognitive tasks. Mixed-effects models were used to test differences in the humour task between the two groups. Multiple regressions determined the best predictors of humour comprehension and appreciation in patients. Patients obtained lower comprehension accuracy scores than controls in the humour task, independently of the type of joke. Conversely, patients and controls did not differ in joke appreciation and both rated mental jokes as funnier than the phonological ones. Patients' comprehension accuracy was predicted by pragmatic skills and ALS severity, whereas appreciation was predicted by several clinical variables and, to a smaller extent, by language skills. The findings suggest that humour is a very vulnerable aspect in ALS, and that impairment in humour comprehension might be part of the larger cognitive impairment, being linked to pragmatic impairment. Clinical variables were also important, especially in relation to humour appreciation. More generally, these data speak in favour of pragmatics as a relevant aspect to sketch the cognitive phenotype of ALS. On the practical level, these findings point to the need of supporting communication at large, not only motor-related aspects such as dysarthria but also social-pragmatic aspects such as understanding jokes, to increase well-being in ALS. What this paper adds What is already known on this subject The literature of the last decades has shown that ALS comes with impairment in several cognitive domains, affecting especially executive functions as well as language. There is also initial evidence that the pragmatics of communication and humour comprehension are impaired, although non-serious talk has been documented in conversational interaction among people with ALS. What this paper adds to existing knowledge This study offers compelling evidence of an impairment in the comprehension of jokes in ALS, whereas the appreciation of joke funniness seems to be spared. The study also highlights the interplay of cognitive factors (especially pragmatics) and clinical factors (related to disease severity) in predicting the patients' performance in the humour task. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? The study's findings call for the need of increased awareness among scholars as well as practitioners and caregivers of the profile of humour comprehension and appreciation in ALS. On a practical level, we highlight the need of assessing humour comprehension and adapting the communicative style accordingly. Second, we recommend that intervention programmes targeting communication in ALS go beyond speech-related difficulties and include pragmatic aspects such as humour. Considering the important communicative and social function of humour, as well as its use as a coping strategy, humour interventions are key to improve the quality of life of individuals with ALS.

Laughter and humour for personal development: A systematic scoping review of the evidence

IntroductionThe accessibility of laughter and humour make them attractive choices for self-care, and integrative medicine. There is a growing body of literature, but both fields are fragmented and the overall evidence has not been systematically reviewed. The relationship between health and personal development is increasingly recognized. This review scopes the evidence for laughter and humour interventions from the perspective of their potential benefits on personal development. MethodsA systematic scoping review used Joanna Briggs guidelines and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews Scoping Review extension (PRISMA-ScR). All-population laughter and humour interventions described in primary and secondary research from 1970, and in English, were searched in Web of Science and PubMed/Medline. ResultsAnalysis of 240 primary research articles (k), and 11 systematic reviews (K), identified k = 564 discrete articles with studies involving 574,611 participants (n). Twelve large studies (n >15,000) contributed 77 % of participants. Classification analysis found more research relating to humour (k = 445, n = 334,996) than laughter (k = 119, n = 239,615) and identified diverse personal development outcomes associated with Biological, Psychological, Social, Environmental, and Behavioural (BPSE-B) factors. ConclusionThis review presents growing evidence for the diverse applications and benefits of laughter and humour. Multiple opportunities for self-care and interventional applications are described. The consideration of personal development outcomes may support tailored applications according to specific needs and objectives. An umbrella Personal Development Theory of laughter and humour, inclusive humour and laughter definitions, and a humour-laughter-affect model are proposed to unify the fields.

Humor intervention in the nurse-patient interaction.

To describe the factors influencing the use of humor in nursing care, its applicability and benefits. A scoping review was performed using the Arksey and O'Mally methodology. A search for articles published between 2008 and 2018 was performed using the platforms EBSCO Host, Virtual Health Library and Google Scholar. From the initial 465 articles found, 17 were included for final revision. Data allowed to retrieve information on humor definition; its applicability as a nursing intervention; humor as a tool to improve nurse-patient communication and relationship; influence factors; type of humor interventions; humor benefits in health care context and; limitations and precautions of humor intervention. The use of humor promotes both communication and human interaction; it promotes well-being; helps deal/cope with difficult and unpleasant situations, reduces tension, discomfort and stress; and strengthens the immune system. This intervention should be used with caution.

A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of laughter and humour interventions on depression, anxiety and sleep quality in adults.

To quantify the effect of laughter and humour interventions on depression, anxiety, and sleep quality in adults. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Weipu, and Wanfang Data were searched from their inception up to December 2018. The reporting of this meta-analytical review was conducted according to the guidelines of the Cochrane Collaboration. Two reviewers selected the studies, extracted the data, and evaluated the risk of bias (Cochrane Collaboration bias assessment tool) of the included papers independently. Ten studies comprising 814 participants were included. Meta-analysis showed that these interventions significantly decreased adults' depression, anxiety, and improved their sleep quality. The results of subgroup analysis showed that depression benefits more from long-term laughter intervention. This meta-analysis revealed that laughter and humour interventions are effective in relieving depression, anxiety, and improve sleep quality in adults. More studies with high quality and follow-up assessment should be conducted for future research. This review synthesized current evidence using laughter and humour interventions to reduce negative emotion and promote better results in adults, especially with respect to target the applicability between different populations or intervention methods. In addition, humour and laughter interventions are safe, convenient, interesting and can promote interpersonal relationship in both patients and medical workers, which have great feasibility and potential to be used as an aspect of psychotherapy for clinical and nursing to improve well-beings in adults.

The effects of three positive psychology interventions using online diaries: A randomized-placebo controlled trial

Three positive psychology interventions (coping humor, three funny things, three good things) were compared with a placebo control condition (early memories) in a randomized placebo-controlled online trial. A total of 182 healthy participants participated in a one week web-based diary study and completed evaluation measures at pre, post, and one month follow-up. They were recruited via e-mail and have been primarily students. Primary outcomes have been happiness and depressive symptoms, secondary outcomes coping humor, cheerfulness (and its subscales), and subjective perceived change. The intention-to-treat analysis (ITT) using linear mixed models could not replicate the positive effects of past research. When compared to the control condition, only the coping humor intervention influenced primary outcomes (r = 0.24–0.29). Three funny things and three good things had no effects at all. Secondary outcomes showed only isolated effects, so that no uniform effect pattern was found for the interventions. Reasons for the small effects, such as motivation and psychosocial status of the participants, as well as recommendations for future studies are discussed.

Humor Assessment and Interventions in Palliative Care: A Systematic Review.

Background: The central goal of palliative care is to optimize the quality of life of patients suffering from life-limiting illnesses, which includes psychosocial and spiritual wellbeing. Research has demonstrated positive correlations between humor and laughter with life satisfaction and other aspects of wellbeing, and physiological symptoms can be improved by humorous stimuli.Objectives: The aim of this review is to evaluate humor interventions and assessments that have been applied in palliative care and to derive implications for future research.Methods: A systematic review of four databases identified 13 included studies. Criteria for inclusion were peer-reviewed English-language studies on humor interventions or assessments in a palliative care context.Results: Two studies on humor interventions and 11 studies on humor assessment were included in the systematic review. Most of these studies were about the patients' perspective on humor in palliative care. Findings showed that humor had a positive effect on patients, their relatives, and professional caregivers. Humor was widely perceived as appropriate and seen as beneficial to care in all studies.Conclusions: Even though humor interventions seem to be potentially useful in palliative care, descriptions evaluating their use are scarce. Overall, research on humor assessment and interventions in palliative care has remained limited in terms of quantity and quality. More research activities are needed to build a solid empirical foundation for implementing humor and laughter as part of regular palliative care activities.

Laughter and humour interventions for well-being in older adults: A systematic review and intervention classification

ObjectivesTo assess the potential of laughter and humour interventions to increase well-being in a general population of adults aged 60 plus; and to develop a classification to compare approaches and potential benefits of different intervention types. DesignA systematic search of Web of Science, PubMed/MEDLINE, PsychInfo, AMED, and PsychArticles used inclusive terms relating to laughter and humour interventions. A realist synthesis approach enabled heterogeneous interventions to be compared pragmatically. SettingFive laughter interventions, and one humour intervention, using one or more outcome related to well-being, were considered for inclusion after screening 178 primary research papers. The five laughter interventions, representing a sample of 369 participants, were retained. Main outcome measuresWell-being related outcome measures reported in each intervention informed efficacy; Joanna Briggs Institute tools appraised design; and a realist approach enabled heterogeneous interventions to be measured on their overall potential to provide an evidence base. ResultsWell-being related measures demonstrated at least one significant positive effect in all interventions. Confounding factors inherent in the intervention types were observed. Individual participant laughter was not reported. ConclusionsLaughter and humour interventions appear to enhance well-being. There is insufficient evidence for the potential of laughter itself to increase well-being as interventions contained a range of confounding factors and did not measure participant laughter. Interventions that isolate, track, and measure the parameters of individual laughter are recommended to build evidence for these potentially attractive and low-risk interventions. The classification proposed may guide the development of both evidence-oriented and population-appropriate intervention designs.

Can self-defeating humor make you happy? Cognitive interviews reveal the adaptive side of the self-defeating humor style

AbstractThe present set of studies employs two cognitive interviewing techniques (thinking aloud and online cognitive probing) of the scale assessing the self-defeating humor style, aiming at delineating the role that self-defeating humor plays in self-esteem and emotions. The self-defeating humor style comprises humor to enhance one’s relationships with others at the expense of oneself, and has often been related to lower well-being. The analyses are based on 392 item responses of a typical sample (Study 1) and 104 item responses of high scorers on the self-defeating scale (Study 2). Content analyses revealed that higher scores on the self-defeating scale went along with humor (Study 1), with higher state self-esteem, with an improvement of one’s interpersonal relationships, and with more facial displays of positive emotions (Study 2). Additionally, the more humor was entailed in the item responses, the higher the state self-esteem and the improvement of relationships was and the more positive emotion words were employed. Thus, the humor entailed in the self-defeating humor style seemed rather beneficial both for oneself and others. These findings call for a reevaluation of past findings with this humor style and provide opportunities for future research and applications of humor interventions to improve well-being.

The Effects of a Humor Intervention on the Physiological, Physical, and Psychological Responses of School-aged Children With Atopic Dermatitis in South Korea: A Pilot Study

PurposeWe examined the effects of a humor intervention on the physiological, physical, and psychological responses of school-aged children with atopic dermatitis. Design and MethodsThis quasi-experimental study used a nonequivalent control group and a pre- and post-test design. Forty-five schoolchildren participated. ResultsChildren in the experimental group (n=26) received a humor intervention and reported significant differences in physiological response, which was evidenced by heightened salivary immunoglobulin A levels as compared to the control group (n=19). Additionally, the psychological response of the experimental group was significantly different from that of the control group as evidenced by decreased stress levels. ConclusionHumor intervention may be an effective nursing intervention for children with atopic dermatitis.