Trial reportArchives of psychiatric nursing2022
The effect of online laughter therapy on depression, anxiety, stress, and loneliness among nursing students during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Trial report in Archives of psychiatric nursing, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- Laughter intervention for stress reduction in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.BMC psychology · 2026Pooled it
- What works to reduce loneliness: a rapid systematic review of 101 interventions.Journal of public health policy · 2025Pooled it
- The impact of laughter yoga as a NIC on health parameters in nurses and nursing students: a systematic review.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2024Pooled it
- Depression in nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- The effect of laughter yoga on well-being, perceived stress, and academic self-efficacy in nursing students: A randomized controlled trial.Applied psychology. Health and well-being · 2025Trial
- Trial
- How is the Beginning and End of Frequent Laughter Associated With Changes in Loneliness Amongst Older People in Japan? A JAGES Longitudinal Study.International journal of geriatric psychiatry · 2025Article
- Laughing During Conversations, But Not in Response to Digital Media, Is Associated With Less Loneliness, Social Isolation, and Social Withdrawal: A Cross-Sectional Study of German Adults in 2023.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Digital bridges to social connection: A systematic review and meta-analysis of digital interventions for loneliness and social isolation.Internet interventions · 2025Review
- Article
- Anxiety in Nursing Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Severe Loneliness and Isolation in Nursing Students during COVID-19 Lockdown: A Phenomenological Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- A Novel Smart Belt for Anxiety Detection, Classification, and Reduction Using IIoMT on Students' Cardiac Signal and MSY.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- A Systematic Review of Yoga Interventions on the Mental Health of Nursing Professionals and Students.International journal of yogaArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNursing students experienced mental symptoms when they switched to distance education due to the pandemic.
aimsThis study was conducted to evaluate the effects of online laughter therapy sessions on depression, anxiety, stress, and loneliness levels in first-year nursing students.
methodsIn this randomized controlled trial, 61 healthy nursing students were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 32) and control groups (n = 29). The intervention group received online laughter therapy twice weekly for four weeks. The control group received no intervention. The data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, and the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale at the study initiation and week four in both groups.
resultsThere was no difference between the mean scores of the groups in the pre-test (p > 0.05). There was a statistically significant difference between groups in terms of depression after online laughter therapy sessions (p < 0.05), but there was no significant difference between anxiety, stress, and loneliness levels (p > 0.05).
conclusionsOnline laughter therapy sessions significantly reduced depression but had no effect on anxiety, stress, and loneliness. During the COVID-19 pandemic, online laughter therapy can be organized to reduce depression levels.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.