Yoga for Depression and Anxiety: A Review of Published Research and Implications for Healthcare Providers

Uebelacker, Lisa A.; Broughton, Monica K

doi:10.1176/appi.focus.16104

Cited by 23 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Two systematic reviews found evidence of the effectiveness of yoga for reducing depression; 32 , 33 another more recent review article reported that yoga was better than usual care, relaxation techniques, or aerobic exercises in reducing depressive symptoms. 34 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Efficacy of Yoga as a Form of Treatment for Depression

Bridges

Sharma

2017

J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med

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The purpose of this article was to systematically review yoga interventions aimed at improving depressive symptoms. A total of 23 interventions published between 2011 and May 2016 were evaluated in this review. Three study designs were used: randomized control trials, quasi-experimental, and pretest/posttest, with majority being randomized control trials. Most of the studies were in the United States. Various yoga schools were used, with the most common being Hatha yoga. The number of participants participating in the studies ranged from 14 to 136, implying that most studies had a small sample. The duration of the intervention period varied greatly, with the majority being 6 weeks or longer. Limitations of the interventions involved the small sample sizes used by the majority of the studies, most studies examining the short-term effect of yoga for depression, and the nonutilization of behavioral theories. Despite the limitations, it can be concluded that the yoga interventions were effective in reducing depression.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Efficacy of Yoga as a Form of Treatment for Depression

Bridges

Sharma

2017

J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med

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“…Psychotherapy is one of several non-pharmacological treatments that are effective for treating depression and anxiety. Massage therapy (Rapaport et al, 2018), yoga (Uebelacker & Broughton, 2018) and tai chi (Kong et al, 2019) all have significant benefits for depression and anxiety. Evidence suggests that various forms of complementary and alternative medicine are effective due to the same contextual mechanisms as psychotherapy (Hyland, 2005).…”

Section: Spontaneous Remission and Therapymentioning

confidence: 99%

A reformulated contextual model of psychotherapy for treating anxiety and depression

Hyland

2020

Clinical Psychology Review

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“…6,7 For many other conditions, preliminary results suggest that yoga practice leads to symptom reduction, increased function, and improved quality of life, but conclusions are tentative until larger, more rigorous studies are conducted. These results are documented in more than 200 review studies of yoga for improving health outcomes among people with major health conditions including cardiovascular disease, 8,9 metabolic syndrome, 10 diabetes, 11 breast cancer, 12 multiple sclerosis, 13 depression and anxiety, 14 and asthma. 15…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

The Essential Properties of Yoga Questionnaire (EPYQ): Psychometric Properties

Park

Elwy

Maiya

et al. 2018

International Journal of Yoga Therapy

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Yoga interventions are heterogeneous and vary along multiple dimensions. These dimensions may affect mental and physical health outcomes in different ways or through different mechanisms. However, most studies of the effects of yoga on health do not adequately describe or quantify the components of the interventions being implemented. This lack of detail prevents researchers from making comparisons across studies and limits our understanding of the relative effects of different aspects of yoga interventions. To address this problem, we developed the Essential Properties of Yoga Questionnaire (EPYQ), which allows researchers to objectively characterize their interventions. We present here the reliability and validity data from the final phases of this measure-development project. Analyses identified fourteen key dimensions of yoga interventions measured by the EPYQ: acceptance/compassion, bandhas, body awareness, breathwork, instructor mention of health benefits, individual attention, meditation and mindfulness, mental and emotional awareness, physicality, active postures, restorative postures, social aspects, spirituality, and yoga philosophy. The EPYQ demonstrated good reliability, as assessed by internal consistency and test-retest reliability analysis, and evidence suggests that the EPYQ is a valid measure of multiple dimensions of yoga. The measure is ready for use by clinicians and researchers. Results indicate that, currently, trained objective raters should score interventions to avoid reference frame errors and potential rating bias, but alternative approaches may be developed. The EPYQ will allow researchers to link specific yoga dimensions to identifiable health outcomes and optimize the design of yoga interventions for specific conditions.

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Yoga for Depression and Anxiety: A Review of Published Research and Implications for Healthcare Providers

Cited by 23 publications

References 18 publications

The Efficacy of Yoga as a Form of Treatment for Depression

The Efficacy of Yoga as a Form of Treatment for Depression

A reformulated contextual model of psychotherapy for treating anxiety and depression

The Essential Properties of Yoga Questionnaire (EPYQ): Psychometric Properties

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