Investigation of the Effect of Laughter Yoga on Stress‐Coping Behaviors in Nursing Students' Starting University.

Aim. This study was aimed to investigate whether the practice of laughter yoga in nursing students who just started university can help them cope with stress. Design. An experimental randomized controlled study was conducted. Methods. The research was conducted with first‐year students (n = 38) who were willing to participate in the study. The intervention group took part in six 45–50 minute laughter yoga sessions twice a week for three weeks. Results. The comparison of the mean and total scores obtained from the Coping Behavior Inventory and Physio‐Psycho‐Social Response Scale by the participants in the control and intervention groups before and after the implementation of the laughter yoga practices demonstrated that there was a statistically significant difference between the two tests in the intervention group and the difference was especially evident between the pre‐ and posttest scores obtained from the Coping Behavior Inventory. Conclusions. In this study, laughter yoga practice helped the participating nursing students who just started university to cope with stress. It can be recommended that laughter yoga should be integrated into the curriculum in schools where nursing education is provided as a way of coping with stress, that its use should be expanded, and that randomized controlled experimental studies in which its physiological and psychological effects in different groups are investigated with objective and subjective parameters should be conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]