Group Laughie Intervention for Well-Being in Earthquake Survivors: A Pilot Study

Primary outcomes

1. Laughie checklists

   Time frame: At baseline (prior to intervention) and immediately after the 14-day intervention

   Following the Group Laughie participants noted whether they enjoyed it, and whether they laughed for the full minute, or at least for 30 s. Participants were prescribed to laugh with their Group Laughie twice a day. Similarly, and in addition, participants noted if they enjoyed laughing with the Group Laughie and whether they laughed for the full minute, or at least 30 s, after each time. This resulted in data from 840 Laughie experiences (3 × 14 × 20). This data is briefly summarized in the Results section

2. Laughie checklists

   Time frame: At baseline (prior to intervention) and immediately after the 14-day intervention

   Following the Group Laughie participants noted whether they enjoyed it, and whether they laughed for the full minute, or at least for 30 s. Participants were prescribed to laugh with their Group Laughie twice a day. Similarly, and in addition, participants noted if they enjoyed laughing with the Group Laughie and whether they laughed for the full minute, or at least 30 s, after each time. This resulted in data from 840 Laughie experiences (3 × 14 × 20). This data is briefly summarized in the Results section.

3. Laughie experience questionnaire

   Time frame: Immediately after the 14-day intervention

   The Laughie Experience Questionnaire is a post-intervention questionnaire designed to assess participant experience and intervention acceptability. The questionnaire includes items evaluating enjoyment and perceived experience of the 14-day Laughie prescription and daily group sessions. Participants will respond to statements (e.g., enjoyment of the intervention and group sessions) using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree." The measure is adapted for use in this study based on previously developed Laughie-related questionnaires.

4. Post intervention perceived impact measure (PIPIM): the PPOP

   Time frame: Immediately after the 14-day intervention

   The PIPIM is a new descriptive generic post-intervention descriptive measure designed to draw out intervention perceived impact (IPI) by aligning all questions to the intervention being used. Here, the PIPIM used was an adapted version of the PPOP (Positive Psychology One-off Post-intervention measure) conceived by one of the authors and first applied in citizen science research. The PPOP consists of 20 questions including "Do you feel more happy and cheerful after using the Laughie for 14 days" and "Do you have more energy after using the Laughie for 14 days". PIPIMs use an 11-point Likert scale (0 to 10): "A great deal less; A lot less; A fair bit less; A little less; A tiny bit less; The same; A tiny bit more; A little more; A fair bit more; A lot more; A great deal more"

5. WHO five well-being index (WHO-5)

   Time frame: Baseline and Day 14 (end of intervention)

   The WHO-5 Well-being Index (WHO-5; World Health Organization, Citation1998), a widely used and validated measure, was administered pre- and post-intervention as a self-report well-being measure. Eser et al. validated and established the reliability of the WHO-5 Turkish scale in their 2019 study. Based on guidance from Eser et al. (Citation2019), the WHO-5 Turkish scale could be used without seeking explicit permission, provided it was cited appropriately. The scale consists of five items (e.g. 'In the last 2 weeks, I have felt cheerful and in good spirits') rated on a 6-point Likert scale grading; At no time = 0, some of the time = 1, less than half of time = 2, more than half of time = 3, most of the time = 4, all of the time = 5. The scoring of the scale is done by summing the score obtained from each item, and the highest score that can be obtained from the scale is 25 and the lowest score is 0.