Yoga as an intervention for psychological symptoms following trauma: A systematic review and quantitative synthesis.

Abstract

Despite evidence of the physiologic impact of trauma, treatments are only beginning to focus on the impact of trauma on the body. Yoga may be a promising treatment for trauma sequelae, given research that supports yoga for general distress. The present study aims to systematically assess and quantitatively synthesize the effectiveness of yoga interventions for psychological symptoms (posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD], depression, anxiety symptoms) following potentially traumatic life events. The following electronic databases were systematically searched: PsycINFO, Ovid Medline/PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Embase/Embase Classic. Google Scholar, Mendeley, Open Research and Contributor Identification, and Fig Share were hand searched post hoc. The review focused on studies with a comparison group that measured psychological symptoms before and after intervention. After screening and reviewing, 12 articles (N = 791) were included, with interventions ranging from 2 days to 16 weeks. If a study contained multiple conditions, between-groups differences were only examined between the yoga and inactive control group. Though overall between-groups (yoga vs. comparison) effect sizes ranged from = 0.40-1.06, the systematic review and quantitative synthesis did not find strong evidence for the effectiveness of yoga as an intervention for PTSD, depression, and anxiety symptoms following traumatic life experiences due to low quality and high risk of bias of studies. As yoga has promise for managing psychological symptoms among trauma survivors, this review calls for more rigorous design of future studies to allow definitive conclusions regarding the use of yoga in mental health treatment of trauma survivors. (PsycINFO Database Record

Maintenance of treatment gains up to 12-months following a three-week cognitive processing therapy-based intensive PTSD treatment programme for veterans

“…However, changes in negative posttrauma cognitions may only be one of the important mechanisms. Recent research has suggested that yoga and mindfulness interventions may have some benefits for individuals with PTSD (Davis et al, 2019 ; Nguyen-Feng, Clark, & Butler, 2019 ). Thus, future studies examining intensive PTSD treatments that combine evidence-based PTSD treatments with integrative interventions (e.g., mindfulness and yoga) should also evaluate the mechanisms by which these interventions may contribute to initial symptom reduction and longer-term maintenance of treatment gains.…”

“…Lastly, given the design of the clinical programme, we were unable to determine which of the interventions offered during the ITP contributed the most to treatment success. Although CPT is considered a core component of the ITP, recent research has shown that mindfulness and yoga practice can also significantly contribute to PTSD symptom reductions (Davis et al, 2019 ; Nguyen-Feng et al, 2019 ). Thus, any findings need to be attributed to the ITP in general rather than any of the specific programme components.…”

Game-Based Meditation Therapy to Improve Posttraumatic Stress and Neurobiological Stress Systems in Traumatized Adolescents: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

“…An a priori power analysis for analysis of variance (repeated measures, within-between interaction) was conducted. Based on previous meditation-based interventions for posttraumatic stress [ 32 , 34 - 36 , 73 ], we expected a small to medium effect size of d =0.30 and a repeated measures correlation of 0.60. To achieve a statistical power of at least .80, a sample size of 72 participants was required.…”

“…Not only can feelings of stress be reduced and emotion-regulation capacities improved, individuals also showed beneficial changes in cardiovascular activity [ 29 - 31 ]. Meditation can restore activity and connectivity in brain regions associated with posttraumatic symptoms [ 32 ], lead to more balanced patterns of neurobiological stress responses [ 33 ], and modulate both hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and autonomic nervous system reactivity [ 34 ]. Research on the effectiveness of meditation interventions for posttraumatic stress shows encouraging findings.…”

Effect of yoga and meditation on tinnitus: a systematic review

“…9,10 Recent systematic reviews on the effect of yoga and meditation as an adjunct therapy have shown promising effects on reducing stress, 11 hypertension, 12,13 post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. 14 To date, there has been no systematic review of the literature on the effect of yoga and meditation on tinnitus. Thus, the present systematic review was planned to explore the published literature on the application of yoga and meditation on tinnitus.…”