Effect of Yoga on Mother's Stress and Sleep Quality of Mother and Child, Mother's Feeding Attitude, and Child's Feeding Behavior: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

AIM: This study aimed to investigate the effects of yoga on mothers' stress, mother and child sleep quality, mother's feeding attitude, and child's feeding behavior, in mothers of children having sleep and feeding difficulties.

METHODS

The study included 55 mothers with children having sleep and feeding problems. Mothers were randomly divided into two groups as yoga (n=29) and control group (n=26). Yoga was practiced via video conferencing method for 8 weeks, 2 days a week, 1 hour a day, while the mothers in the control group did not receive any intervention. The stress levels of the mothers were assessed with the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS); attitudes towards the feeding process with the Infancy and Early Childhood Feeding Process Mother's Attitudes Scale; and their sleep quality with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Infant's feeding problems were evaluated with the Infancy Adaptive Eating Behavior Scale, and sleep problems with the Brief Infant/Child Sleep Questionnaire (BISQ).

RESULTS

A significant difference was found in the stress level (P < .05), sleep quality (P < .05), negative mood, and inadequate feeding attitudes (P < .05) among the sub-parameters of feeding attitudes of mothers in the yoga group post-intervention. Among the children of the mothers in the yoga group, improvements were observed in the frequency of night awakening, nocturnal wakefulness, and in the sub-parameters of feeding behaviors such as reluctance and reactivity (P < .05). Mothers in the control group showed a significant increase in stress levels (P < .05) and a significant decrease in sleep quality (P < .05), whereas there was no significant difference in the sub-parameters of sleep and feeding behaviors of their child (P > .05).

CONCLUSION

Yoga has positive effects on mothers' stress, sleep quality of mother and child, feeding attitude of mothers, and feeding behavior of child, in mothers of children with sleep and feeding problems.