218. A SINGLE YOGA SESSION FOR ANXIETY AND STRESS IN ADULTS WITH OR WITHOUT MENTAL ILLNESSES: A SCOPING REVIEW
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Abstract Background Yoga, a widely practiced mind-body exercise, has demonstrated significant benefits for anxiety, stress, and depression in both healthy adults and those with mental illnesses. While brief yoga sessions may appeal to individuals seeking shorter interventions, a comprehensive evaluation of single-session yoga interventions remains limited. Aims & Objectives This scoping review aims to 1) map clinical trials investigating single yoga interventions for anxiety and stress reduction and 2) identify evidence gaps regarding the effects of single yoga sessions on anxiety and stress in healthy adults and patients with mental illnesses. Method A systematic search of multiple bibliographic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) was conducted using keywords such as "yoga," "single session," "anxiety," and "stress." Studies evaluating the physiological and psychological effects of single yoga sessions on anxiety and stress in healthy adults or patients with mental illnesses were included. Data on session types, study settings, participant characteristics, measurements, and findings were synthesized. Results Of 3024 initial records, 30 studies were included in the qualitative synthesis: 25 studies focused on healthy adults and five studies targeted patients with mental illnesses, involving 1548 participants (1215 healthy adults and 333 patients). Most studies were conducted in India (36.7%) and the U.S.A. (36.7%), primarily targeting younger participants. Sessions lasted 30–60 minutes and mainly involved Hatha yoga or breathing exercises. In studies involving patients with mental illnesses (generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia), yoga session was integrated into standard clinical treatments. Three studies (75%) reported significant reductions in anxiety post-session, particularly those using breathing exercises and asanas. Two studies (66.7%) also observed reductions in stress through combinations of breathing exercises, asanas, and meditation or mindfulness. Interventions for patients with mental illnesses tended to be shorter and less intensive than those for healthy adults. For both populations, Hatha yoga was the most common approach, and sessions exceeding 30 minutes effectively reduced anxiety and stress. Single-session interventions, particularly those supervised by medical or allied health staff or conducted in group settings, were found feasible for individuals over 30 years of age in both inpatient and outpatient clinical settings. Discussion & Conclusions This scoping review highlights the potential of single yoga sessions to alleviate anxiety and stress in both healthy adults and patients with mental illnesses. Hatha yoga sessions lasting more than 30 minutes may complement clinical treatments for mental health conditions. Shorter, group-based sessions supervised by medical staff appear especially practical for patients with mental illnesses. However, this scoping review has limitations. It relied solely on published data, excluding unpublished studies, and did not consider the influence of cultural background, race, or nationality. Moreover, as a scoping review, it does not quantitatively assess the effectiveness of single yoga sessions. Future systematic reviews and meta-analyses are necessary to address these gaps. Further research should identify the most effective types of single-session yoga interventions for patients with mental illnesses and establish clinical guidelines for their application.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.007 | 0.035 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.006 | 0.006 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.014 | 0.012 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.004 | 0.004 |
| Open science | 0.002 | 0.002 |
| Research integrity | 0.003 | 0.002 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.008 | 0.001 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".