ABSTRACT

Background

Several studies have revealed an association between stress and language in nonclinical and aphasia groups. Laughter is considered to be an important contributor to physical and mental health including physiological and self-reported perceived stress. Simulated laughter programs, such as Laughter Yoga (LY), are a way to engage a person in the act of laughter without a humorous stimulus. The importance of laughter in aphasia therapy has been underexplored.

Aims

The current study investigated the effects of a simulated laughter program based in LY techniques on discourse measures and perceived stress for adults with aphasia. Qualitative feedback regarding the LY program was also collected from participants to assess their perception of the program. Additionally, the convergent validity of the Simple Aphasia Stress Scale (SASS) was explored. SASS measures were correlated with discourse measures in post hoc analyses to contribute to the growing literature examining the relation between perceived stress and language performance.

Methods

A waitlist crossover design was conducted across nine participants all with stroke and mild to moderate aphasia. All participants participated in a 3-day intervention period in which they engaged in a 20-minute simulated laughter program and a 3-day comparison condition in which they engaged in a 20-minute sitting session. Pre- and post- measures of self-reported perceived stress and discourse were taken on days 1 and 3 of each condition. Qualitative feedback on the simulated laughter program was also gathered.

Outcomes & results

No significant changes were noted in discourse measures or perceived stress in relation to the LY intervention. Responses regarding enjoyment of the simulated laughter program were primarily positive, however, some responses revealed an unfavorable opinion of the experience. The SASS demonstrated good convergent validity by significantly correlating with the Single-Item Stress Measurement (SISM) and Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM)-Arousal. Post-hoc analysis revealed associations between the SASS and certain measures of discourse dysfluency and productivity.

Conclusions

The simulated laughter program proved ineffective at differentially changing discourse dysfluency, productivity, or perceived stress in adults with aphasia when compared to a sitting condition. The SASS’ convergent validity is encouraging for its use as a measure of perceived stress by clinicians and researchers. Perceived stress correlated with certain discourse dysfluency and productivity measures adding to a growing body of literature in the area of stress and aphasia.

中文翻译：

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成人失语症的模拟笑声、压力感知和话语

摘要

背景

几项研究揭示了非临床和失语症群体的压力与语言之间的关联。笑被认为是身心健康的重要因素，包括生理和自我报告的感知压力。模拟笑声计划，例如大笑瑜伽 (LY)，是一种无需幽默刺激就能让人们参与到笑声中的方式。笑声在失语症治疗中的重要性尚未得到充分探索。

宗旨

目前的研究调查了基于 LY 技术的模拟笑声程序对成人失语症的话语测量和感知压力的影响。还从参与者那里收集了关于 LY 计划的定性反馈，以评估他们对该计划的看法。此外，还探讨了简单失语症压力量表 (SASS)的收敛效度。在事后分析中，SASS测量与话语测量相关联，以促进越来越多的研究感知压力与语言表现之间关系的文献。

方法

对九名患有中风和轻度至中度失语症的参与者进行了候补名单交叉设计。所有参与者都参加了为期 3 天的干预期，其中他们参与了 20 分钟的模拟笑声计划和 3 天的比较条件，其中他们参与了 20 分钟的静坐训练。在每种情况的第 1 天和第 3 天，对自我报告的感知压力和话语进行了前后测量。还收集了对模拟笑声程序的定性反馈。

结果和结果

在与 LY 干预相关的话语测量或感知压力方面没有发现显着变化。关于享受模拟笑声节目的反应主要是积极的，但是，一些反应显示了对体验的不利看法。该SASS通过与显著相关表现出良好的收敛效度单项应力测试（SISM）和自我评估人体模型（SAM）-Arousal。事后分析揭示了SASS与某些话语不流畅和生产力的衡量标准之间的关联。

结论

与坐着的情况相比，模拟的笑声程序在不同程度地改变患有失语症的成年人的话语不流畅、生产力或感知压力方面无效。在上海社会科学院”收敛有效性鼓励其由临床医生和研究人员心理压力的措施使用。感知压力与某些话语不流畅和生产力测量相关，增加了压力和失语症领域越来越多的文献。