The effect of online laughter therapy on depression, anxiety, stress, and loneliness among nursing students during the Covid-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: Nursing students experienced mental symptoms when they switched to distance education due to the pandemic. AIMS: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of online laughter therapy sessions on depression, anxiety, stress, and loneliness levels in first-year nursing students. METHODS: In this randomized controlled trial, 61 healthy nursing students were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 32) and control groups (n = 29). The intervention group received online laughter therapy twice weekly for four weeks. The control group received no intervention. The data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, and the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale at the study initiation and week four in both groups. RESULTS: There was no difference between the mean scores of the groups in the pre-test (p > 0.05). There was a statistically significant difference between groups in terms of depression after online laughter therapy sessions (p < 0.05), but there was no significant difference between anxiety, stress, and loneliness levels (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Online laughter therapy sessions significantly reduced depression but had no effect on anxiety, stress, and loneliness. During the COVID-19 pandemic, online laughter therapy can be organized to reduce depression levels.