Effect of Yoga on anxiety, depression and self-esteem in orphanage residents: A pilot study

Abstract

Introduction:There has been an increase in a number of orphanages and children living in orphanages in last few years. The children living in orphanages often have psychological problems among which anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem are considered to be most prominent. Yoga is a noninvasive, cost-effective, and safe intervention among complementary and alternative medicine which is known to have a positive impact on psychological problems.Aims:The present pilot study intended to assess the effect of a two week Yoga intervention on anxiety, depression, and self-esteem of adolescents and young adults living in an orphanage.Materials and Methods:Adolescent and young adults participants who were the permanent residents of an orphanage (n = 34; males = 27, females = 7) between age ranges of 12–20 years underwent 2 week of Yoga intervention. Yoga intervention comprised Asana (Yogic postures), Pranayama (Yogic breathing practices), and Dharana-Dhyana (Yogic relaxation techniques) for 1 h daily over 15 days. Hospital anxiety and depression and Rosenberg self-esteem scale were administered at baseline and after the intervention to assess anxiety, depression, and self-esteem, respectively.Results:There was a significant reduction (P = 0.001) in anxiety, depression, and significant improvement in self-esteem (P = 0.001) at the end of 2 weeks Yoga intervention.Conclusions:This pilot study suggests that 2 weeks of Yoga practice potentially reduced anxiety and depression and improved self-esteem of orphanage adolescents and young adults. These findings need confirmation from studies with a larger sample size and randomized controlled design, which are implicated in the future.

A study on effect of yoga on emotional regulation, self-esteem, and feelings of adolescents

“…The effect of yoga on mean difference pertaining to all the statements of self-esteem have been found to be highly significant which shows that yoga has a significant impact on predicting self-esteem among the adolescents. Thus it can be concluded that adolescents who are practicing yoga have a very high self-esteem, the results of study supports the findings[ 59 43 ] where a significant increase was found in self-esteem of students after yoga.…”

“…Research studies on pre- and postyoga interventions on adolescents have reported significant increase in emotional self-regulation in the yoga practicing group than the physical education group. [ 39 40 41 ] Improved anger management and impulse control, as well as a decrease in negative emotion among students,[ 32 ] significant reduction in adolescents’ beliefs supporting aggression and increase in their beliefs supporting alternatives to aggression,[ 42 ] significant decrease in anxiety, depression, and significant improvement in selfesteem,[ 43 ] significantly greater decrease in anger, depression, and fatigue are found in the yoga group as compared to physical education. [ 44 ] A pilot randomized control study on tribal adolescents measuring the positive–negative affect and self-esteem after giving yoga practices showed significant improvement in the variables.…”

Frecuencia de ansiedad y depresión en niñas y adolescentes de la casa de acogida “Miguel León” en el cantón Cuenca, Ecuador

“…En una investigación desarrollada en la región de Sharkia-Egipto con 294 niños entre 6-12 años de edad, se reveló que la prevalencia de depresión fue del 21% y ansiedad 45%. Otra investigación desarrollada en la India con 37 adolescentes huérfanos entre 12-20 años mostró que el 42.82% de los participantes presentó ansiedad, mientras que el 18.5% depresión [16].…”

Yoga as an Intervention for the Reduction of Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review

“…The age of participants ranged from 3 to 21 years-old. One study included individuals up to 21 years-old (42), while three studies included individuals up to 20 years-old (40,50,57). The 22 studies that reported number of participants of each sex showed an average of 41% male participants (37, 38, 40-44, 46-48, 50-60, 62).…”

“…The total number of subjects included in each study ranged from 10 to 211. Specific diagnoses/descriptions included a risk factor for type 2 diabetes (36), cardiac diagnosis (53) or devices (52), burn injuries (48), cancer (47,55), eating disorders (54), abnormal levels of anxiety (60), IBS (59), cystic fibrosis (40), sickle cell disease vaso-occlusive crisis (42), polycystic ovarian syndrome (56), Autism-spectrum disorder (ASD) (44), individuals in an in-patient psychiatric unit (45), residents of an orphanage (57), and students at an elite music summer program FIGURE 1 | PRISMA study flow diagram illustrating results of database searches, results of eligibility assessments, and results of final inclusion. (38).…”