Table 2.
Characteristics of included studies (N = 65)
| Sr. No. | Study (Author, year | Country | Sample | Trial Design | Population | Gender/Age, M(SD) | Recruitment setting | Relaxation Type | Clinical outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (Caldwell et al., 2016) | USA | 50 | RCT | University students | Both, 18–40 (mean, SD missing) | University | Relaxation | Anxiety |
| 2 | (Gold et al., 2017) | Australia | 100 | cRCT | School students | Both, 13.84 (0.74) | School | Relaxation | Depression |
| 3 | (Robledo-Colonia et al., 2012) | Cali, Colombia | 74 | RCT | Pregnant women | Female, 21 (SD missing) | Prenatal Care Services of three Hospitals | Relaxation | Depression |
| 4 | (Harmat et al., 2008) | Hungary | 65 | RCT | University students | Both, 22.6 (2.83) | University | Relaxation | Depression |
| 5 | (Nabkasorn et al., 2006) | Thailand | 49 | RCT | Nursing students | Female,18.8 (0.7) | Not specified | Relaxation | Depression |
| 6 | (Putra et al., 2018) | Indonesia | 31 | RCT | School students | Female,15–17 (mean, SD missing) | School | Relaxation | Depression |
| 7 | (MacMahon & Gross, 1988) | USA | 69 | RCT | Juvenile | Male, 16.3 (SD missing) | Juvenile detention facilities | Relaxation | Depression |
| 8 | (Reynolds & Coats, 1986) | California | 21 | RCT | School students | Both, 15.65 (SD missing) | School | Relaxation | Depression and anxiety |
| 9 | (Roth, 1989) | USA | 80 | RCT | College students | Both, 20.8 (SD missing) | College | Relaxation | Depression and anxiety |
| 10 | (Roth & Holmes, 1987) | UK | 57 | RCT | College students | Both, 18.9 (1.3) | College | Relaxation | Depression and anxiety |
| 11 | (Velasquez et al., 2015) | Columbia | 125 | RCT | School age children | Not specified | Not specified | Relaxation | Depression and anxiety |
| 12 | (Norris et al., 1992) | UK | 91 | RCT | School students | Both, 16 (SD missing) | School | Relaxation | Depression anxiety and stress |
| 13 | (Walsh et al., 2016) | USA | 64 | RCT | Students | Female, 19.15 (SD missing) | Not specified | Multicomponent | Depression |
| 14 | (Raes et al., 2014) | Belgium | 335 | cRCT | School students | Both, 13- 20 (mean, SD missing) | School | Multicomponent | Depression |
| 15 | (Sagon et al., 2018) | USA | 103 | RCT | Freshmen university students | Both, 18.15 (.46) | University | Multicomponent | Depression |
| 16 | (Stasiak et al., 2014) | New Zealand | 34 | Pilot RCT | School students | Both, 13–18 (mean, SD missing) | School | Multicomponent | Depression |
| 17 | (Cui et al., 2016) | China | 120 | RCT | College students | Both, 19.42 (1.66) | College | Multicomponent | Depression |
| 18 | (Felver et al., 2015) | USA | 47 | RCT | School students | Both, 15 (SD missing) | School | Multicomponent | Depression |
| 19 | (Khalsa et al., 2012) | USA | 100 | RCT | School Students | Both, 16.8 (0.6) | School | Multicomponent | Stress |
| 20 | (De Vibe et al., 2013) | Norway | 288 | RCT | University students | Both, 23 (SD missing) | University | Multicomponent | Stress |
| 21 | (De Vibe et al., 2013; Erogul et al., 2014) | New York, USA | 57 | RCT | Medical students | Both, 23.5 (1.7) | College | Multicomponent | Stress |
| 22 | (Phang et al., 2015) | Malaysia | 75 | RCT | Medical students | Both, 21.14 (1.10) | College | Multicomponent | Stress |
| 23 | (Scholten et al., 2016) | Netherlands | 138 | RCT | School students | Both, 13.90 (.91) | School | Multicomponent | Anxiety |
| 24 | (Grassi et al., 2011) | Not specified | 75 | RCT | University students | Female, 20.86 (1.27) | University | Multicomponent | Anxiety |
| 25 | (Dvořáková et al., 2017) | USA | 107 | Pilot RCT | College students | Both, 18.2 (0.4) | College | Multicomponent | Depression and anxiety |
| 26 | (Vázquez et al., 2012) | Spain | 133 | RCT | University students | Both, 23.3 (SD missing) | University | Multicomponent | Depression and anxiety |
| 27 | (McGrady et al., 2012) | USA | 105 | RCT | First year medical students | Both, age not specified | Not specified | Multicomponent | Depression and anxiety |
| 28 | (Levin et al., 2017) | USA | 79 | RCT | College students | Both, 21.61(5.48) | College | Multicomponent | Depression and anxiety |
| 29 | (Blake et al., 2018) | Australia | 123 | RCT | School students | Both, 14.48 (SD missing) | School | Multicomponent | Depression and anxiety |
| 30 | (Merry et al., 2012) | New Zealand | 187 | RCT | School student | Both, 15.6 (SD missing) | School | Multicomponent | Depression and anxiety |
| 31 | (Seligman et al., 2007) | USA | 212 | RCT | First year undergraduate students | Both, age not specified | College | Multicomponent | Depression and anxiety |
| 32 | (Kenardy et al., 2003) | Australia | 74 | RCT | University students | Both, 19.92 (4.78) | University | Multicomponent | Depression and anxiety |
| 33 | (Seligman et al., 2000) | USA | 225 | RCT | University students (1st year under-graduates) | Both, age not specified | University | Multicomponent | Depression and anxiety |
| 34 | (Calear et al., 2009) | Australia | 1477 | cRCT | School students | Both, 14.34 (0.75) | School | Multicomponent | Depression and anxiety |
| 35 | (Chen et al., 2013) | China | 60 | RCT | Nursing students | Both, 19.5(0.87) | University | Multicomponent | Depression and anxiety |
| 36 | (Delgado et al., 2010) | Not specified | 32 | RCT | University students | Female, 18–24 (mean, SD missing) | University | Multicomponent | Depression and anxiety |
| 37 | (Shapiro et al., 1998) | USA | 78 | RCT | Medical students | Both, age not specified | University | Multicomponent | Depression and anxiety |
| 38 | (Astin, 1997) | USA | 28 | RCT | University students | Both, age not specified | University | Multicomponent | Depression and anxiety |
| 39 | (Shearer et al., 2015) | USA | 46 | RCT | University students | Both, age not specified | University | Multicomponent | Depression and anxiety |
| 40 | (Hilyer et al., 1982) | USA | 43 | RCT | School students | Male, 15–18 (mean, SD missing) | School | Multicomponent | Depression and anxiety |
| 41 | (Melnyk et al., 2009) | USA | 47 | RCT | Adolescents | Both, 14–16 (mean, SD missing) | Not specified | Multicomponent | Depression and anxiety |
| 42 | (Ștefan et al., 2018) | Romania | 46 | RCT | College students | Female, 18.92 (SD missing) | College | Multicomponent | Anxiety and stress |
| 43 | (Chiauzzi et al., 2008) | USA | 157 | RCT | College students | Both, 18–24 (SD missing) | College | Multicomponent | Anxiety and stress |
| 44 | (Saravanan & Kingston, 2014) | Malaysia | 66 | RCT | Medical students | Both, 19 (1.04) | University | Multicomponent | Anxiety and stress |
| 45 | (Fleming et al., 2012) | New Zealand | 30 | RCT | School students | Male, 14.9 (.79) | School | Multicomponent | Anxiety and stress |
| 46 | (Deckro et al., 2002) | USA | 90 | RCT | College students | Both, 24 (SD missing) | College | Multicomponent | Anxiety and stress |
| 47 | (Nguyen-Feng et al., 2017) | USA | 243 | RCT | College students | Both, 18–21 (mean, SD missing) | College | Multicomponent | Depression, Anxiety and stress |
| 48 | (Zhang et al., 2018) | China | 62 | RCT | University students | Both, 18.41(2.01) | University | Multicomponent | Depression and stress |
| 49 | (Bluth et al., 2016) | North Carolina ( USA) | 23 | RCT | School students | Both, 16.8 (1.3) | School | Multicomponent | Depression, anxiety and stress |
| 50 | (Flett et al., 2019) | New Zealand | 208 | RCT | University students | Not specified, 20.08(2.8) | University | Multicomponent | Depression, anxiety, and stress |
| 51 | (Song & Lindquist, 2015) | South Korea | 44 | RCT | Undergraduate nursing students | Both, 19.6 (1.7) | Not specified | Multicomponent | Depression, anxiety, and stress |
| 52 | (Rentala et al., 2019) | India | 209 | RCT | College students | Female, 16–19 (SD missing) | College | Multicomponent | Depression, anxiety and stress |
| 53 | (Hall et al., 2018) | China | 54 | RCT | University students | Both, 22.30 (2.63) | University | Multicomponent | Depression, anxiety, and stress |
| 54 | (Hindman et al., 2014) | USA | 34 | RCT | University students | Both, 22.35 (SD missing) | University | Multicomponent | Depression, anxiety, and stress |
| 55 | (Levin et al., 2019) | USA | 39 | Pilot trial RCT | University students | Both, 20.51 (2.73) | College | Multicomponent | Depression, anxiety, and stress |
| 56 | (Ellis et al., 2011) | Australia | 26 | RCT | University students | Both, 19.67 (1.66) | University | Multicomponent | Depression, anxiety, and stress |
| 57 | (Gallego et al., 2015) | Spain | 53 | RCT | University students | Both, 20.07 (SD missing) | University | Multicomponent | Depression, anxiety and stress |
| 58 | (Berger et al., 1988) | USA | 232 | RCT | College students | Both, 20 (SD missing) | College | Multicomponent | Depression anxiety and stress |
| 59 | (Van Aubel et al., 2020) | Neatherland | 55 | RCT | General population | Both, 21.36 (2.39) | Community | Multicomponent | Depression and Anxiety |
| 60 | (Nguyen-Feng et al., 2016) | USA | 314 | RCT | College students | Both, 18–21 (mean, SD missing) | College | Multicomponent | Depression, anxiety and stress |
| 61 | (Warnecke et al., 2011) | Australia | 84 | RCT | University students | Both, 23.92 (3.2) | University | Multicomponent | Depression and Anxiety |
| 62 | (Moir et al., 2016) | New Zealand | 402 | RCT | University students | Both, 21 (SD missing) | University | Multicomponent | Depression and Anxiety |
| 63 | (Nguyen-Feng et al., 2019) | USA | 382 | RCT | College students | Both, 21.3 (SD missing) | College | Multicomponent | Depression and Anxiety |
| 64 | (Levin et al., 2016) | USA | 234 | RCT | University students | Both, 20.51(2.73) | University | Multicomponent | Depression and Anxiety |
| 65 | (Hazlett-Stevens & Oren, 2017) | USA | 92 | RCT | College students | Both, 22.1 (4.7) | College | Multicomponent | Depression and Anxiety |
RCT: Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT); cRCT: Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial