Author(s)

Jennifer Mitchell, Tiffany Field, Miguel Diego, Debra Bendell, Rae Newton, Martha Pelaez

Fielding Graduate University, Santa Barbara, USA.
Florida International University, Miami, USA.
Touch Research Institute, University of Miami Medical School, Miami, USA.

This research assessed the effects of yoga on prenatal depression symptoms using archival data. Depressed pregnant women were randomly assigned to either a yoga treatment group (n = 12) or a parenting education control group (n = 12). Women in the yoga group participated in classes two times a week for a period of 12 weeks. The attention control group received 12 parenting education sessions on the same schedule. The yoga versus control group showed greater decreases on the depressed affect and somatic/ vegetative subscales and the summary score of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Thus, yoga appears to reduce depression symptoms in pregnant women.

Yoga; Prenatal Depression Symptoms

Mitchell, J. , Field, T. , Diego, M. , Bendell, D. , Newton, R. and Pelaez, M. (2012) Yoga Reduces Prenatal Depression Symptoms. Psychology, 3, 782-786. doi: 10.4236/psych.2012.329118.