The effect of laughter therapy on the fatigue and anxiety of mothers of children admitted to the psychiatric departments of Tehran Hospitals: an experimental study

Fatigue and anxiety have a bad effect on the physical and mental health of mothers and challenge the quality of child care and living conditions. This study was conducted aimed to investigate the effect of laughter therapy on the fatigue and anxiety of mothers of children admitted to the psychiatric department of Tehran Hospitals.

An experimental study with pre-test and post-test design was performed on 70 (Two groups of 35 participants) mothers of children admitted to Ali Asgar and Razi hospitals. The intervention group participated in 8 laughter therapy group sessions with an average duration of 60 minutes. Demographic information questionnaires, Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were used to collect data. Data analysis were done using SPSS software version 16.

In the pre-test stage, there was no significant difference in the mean of fatigue and anxiety between the two groups (p>0.05). The comparison of fatigue and anxiety of the intervention group showed that a significant differences were observed in the mean of this variables and its dimensions after the intervention (p<0.05), while there was no such significant changes in the control group regarding fatigue and anxiety and their dimensions (p<0.05). By 0.741 and 0.735 changes of fatigue and anxiety variance are explained by the independent variable, respectively.

Laughter therapy is an effective intervention to reduce fatigue and anxiety in mothers of children hospitalized in psychiatric wards. Due to the low cost, lack of complications and the possibility of implementation; it is recommended to implement this intervention in similar conditions and other vulnerable people.