Effectiveness of integrative laughter therapy to reduce anxiety, improve self-esteem and increase happiness : A naturalistic study at a day hospital for addictive disorders
De Francisco, Seyla (Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau)
Torres, Cristina (Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau)
de Andrés Muñoz, Sandra (Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau)
Millet, Ana (Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau)
Ricart Basagaña, Maite (Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau)
Hernández Martínez-Esparza, E. (Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau)
Abades, Mercedes (Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau)
Trujols, Joan (Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental)
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Date:	2019
Abstract:	Little is known about the effectiveness of laughter therapy as an adjunctive treatment for patients with addictive disorders. This study aims to evaluate the benefits of integrative laughter therapy (ILT) on levels of self-esteem, anxiety, and happiness in patients treated for addiction at a day hospital (DH). A prospective, naturalistic study with a pre-post design was conducted. All 185 participants received the standard, multicomponent treatment at the DH (treatment as usual; TAU). The participants were also invited to attend weekly ILT sessions. Upon completion of the 2-month DH treatment program, patients were classified according to their attendance at the ILT sessions: patients who attended ≥80% constituted the experimental group (TAU + ILT group) while those who attended <80% were considered controls. Although both groups achieved statistically significant increases in self-esteem and happiness with a decrease in trait anxiety, the improvement on these variables was significantly greater in the TAU + ILT group. Subject to the limitations inherent to quasi-experimental research, the findings of the present study suggest that the addition of an ILT module to the standard treatment in a DH for addictive disorders may yield greater improvement in self-esteem, anxiety, and happiness compared to TAU.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Laughter therapy ; Addictive disorders ; Day hospital treatment ; Mental health nursing ; Self-esteem ; Happiness ; Satisfaction with life ; Anxiety ; Quasi-experimental design
Published in:	International journal of environmental research and public health, Vol. 16 Núm. 21 (january 2019) , p. 4194, ISSN 1660-4601

DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16214194
PMID: 31671508

10 p, 333.6 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Health sciences and biosciences > Institut de Recerca Sant Pau
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles