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A Pilot Study Examining the Effects of Kouk Sun Do on University Students with Anxiety Symptoms
Author(s) -
Kim JongHo,
Yang Heewon,
Schroeppel Stephen
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
stress and health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.009
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1532-2998
pISSN - 1532-3005
DOI - 10.1002/smi.2431
Subject(s) - anxiety , psychology , coping (psychology) , clinical psychology , trait anxiety , repeated measures design , analysis of variance , trait , test (biology) , psychiatry , medicine , paleontology , statistics , mathematics , biology , computer science , programming language
The effects of Kouk Sun Do (KSD), a mind–body exercise on mental health in university students, were investigated in this pilot study. University students ( N = 30) with self‐reported anxiety symptoms were randomly assigned to either the treatment group or the waiting list control group. Eighteen participants ( N = 18; seven in the treatment group and 11 in the waiting list control group) completed a pre‐test and a post‐test, and 12 participants dropped out before or during the intervention. Ten 70‐min KSD exercise sessions were conducted three times per week over a 4‐week period. Trait anxiety, depressive symptoms and general self‐efficacy in coping with stress were measured with the pre‐test and the post‐test. Qualitative data were collected using open‐ended questions regarding benefits of KSD at the last session. A two (group) by two (time) repeated‐measure analysis of variance was used to analyse the data. Trait anxiety and depressive symptoms decreased whereas general self‐efficacy increased over a 4‐week period. The treatment group had significantly reduced trait anxiety and depressive symptoms compared with the control group across time. Qualitative data provided support that the self‐induced relaxation effects of KSD may lead to reduced anxiety. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.