The effects of yoga on student mental health: a randomised controlled trial

Tiril Elstad; Pål Ulleberg; Sandra Klonteig; Jonny Hisdal; Gunvor Marie Dyrdal; Arild Bjorndal

doi:10.1080/21642850.2020.1843466

The effects of yoga on student mental health: a randomised controlled trial

Health Psychol Behav Med. 2020 Nov 11;8(1):573-586. doi: 10.1080/21642850.2020.1843466.

Authors

Tiril Elstad¹, Pål Ulleberg², Sandra Klonteig³, Jonny Hisdal^{4

5}, Gunvor Marie Dyrdal⁶, Arild Bjorndal⁷

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
² Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
³ Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
⁴ Department of Vascular Surgery, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
⁵ Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
⁶ Department of Health Sciences in Gjøvik, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway.
⁷ Regional Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health in Eastern and Southern Norway (RBUP) & University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.

Abstract

Background: Universities around the world are facing an epidemic of mental distress among their students. The problem is truly a public health issue, affecting many and with serious consequences. The global burden of disease-agenda calls for effective interventions with lasting effects that have the potential to improve the mental health of young adults. In this study we aimed to determine whether yoga, a popular and widely available mind-body practice, can improve student mental health.

Methods: We performed a randomised controlled trial with 202 healthy university students in the Oslo area. The participants were assigned to a yoga group or waitlist control group in a 1:1 ratio by a simple online randomisation program. The intervention group was offered 24 yoga sessions over 12 weeks. Measurements were taken at week 0 (baseline), week 12 (post-intervention), and week 24 (follow-up). The primary outcome was psychological distress assessed by the HSCL-25 questionnaire. Analysis was performed based on the intention to treat-principle.

Results: Between 24 January 2017, and 27 August 2017, we randomly assigned 202 students to a yoga intervention group (n = 100), or waitlist control group (n = 102). Compared with the control group, the yoga participants demonstrated a significant reduction in distress symptoms both at post-intervention (adjusted difference in the mean change -0.15, 95% CI -0.26 to -0.03, p = 0.0110) and follow-up (adjusted difference in the mean change -0.18, 95% CI -0.29 to -0.06, p = 0.0025). Sleep quality also improved at post-intervention and follow-up. No adverse events were reported.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that yoga has a moderately large and lasting effect, at least for some months, reducing symptoms of distress and improving sleep quality among students. Further research should seek ways to enhance the effect, assess an even longer follow-up period, include active control groups, and consider performing similar studies in other cultural settings.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04258540.

Keywords: Mental health; distress; public health; sleep; yoga.

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT04258540

Grants and funding

The Regional Center for Child and Adolescent Mental Health in Eastern and Southern Norway (headed by AB) made a small stipend available for TE. HFN Norway, the owner of HiYoga and SatsElixia, the largest gym studio company in Norway, sponsored the yoga interventions in this study. The yoga instructors in the study assisted in designing the yoga course. HiYoga, with the instructors, were responsible for delivering the yoga classes. All participants collected and returned their pulse watches from the reception at the yoga studio. HiYoga had no further role in the design of the study and played no part in choosing the methods, collecting the data, or analysing or presenting the data. In addition, they had no role in the publication process. The corresponding author had full access to all the data in the study and has the final responsibility for publication.