Is less more? A randomized comparison of home practice time in a mind-body program

Area of Science:

• Mind-body interventions
• Stress reduction techniques
• Behavioral medicine

Background:

• Home practice is crucial for mind-body programs but optimal dosage is unknown.
• Participant burden and compliance are key considerations for home practice effectiveness.
• Current understanding of dose-response relationships in mind-body home practice is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of varying home practice amounts on compliance and stress reduction.
• To determine if a flexible home practice schedule enhances compliance in a yoga program.
• To identify the optimal
• dose
• of home practice for stress reduction.

Main Methods:

• Eighty-four stressed participants were randomized into low, medium, or high home practice groups for a 12-week yoga program.
• The medium group had flexibility to choose daily practice amounts.
• Compliance and stress levels were measured throughout the study and 12 weeks post-intervention.

Main Results:

• The low practice group showed the highest compliance (91%) but minimal stress reduction.
• The high practice group achieved significant stress reduction, maintained 12 weeks post-program.
• Flexible scheduling did not improve compliance; higher doses correlated with greater symptom reduction despite lower compliance.

Conclusions:

• Prescribing higher home practice doses may be more effective for maximizing stress reduction.
• Higher practice doses can lead to greater total practice time and symptom improvement.
• Compliance rates may decrease with higher prescribed practice, but overall effectiveness can increase.