아로마요법이 고등학생의 학업스트레스, 우울, 수면의 질 및 심박변이도에 미치는 효과

Effects of Aromatherapy on Academic Stress, Depression, Sleep Quality, and Heart Rate Variability in High School Students

The purpose of this study is to verify the effects of aromatherapy on academic stress, depression, sleep quality, and heart rate variability in high school students. This is a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest nonequivalent control group design. The subjects were 50 students at high schools in G City and were assigned 25 in the experimental group and 25 in the control group. Experimental intervention was an aromatherapy using aroma necklace for 4 weeks with wearing all times except showering or sleeping. Data were collected from August 26, 2019, to October 4, 2019. Data were analyzed with SPSS WIN 18.0 program. To analyze the homogeneity between the experimental group and the control group, χ2 -test, Fisher’s exact test, t-test, and the Mann-Whitney U test were used, and ANCOVA and Wilcoxon signed rank test were used to verify the effects of aromatherapy. As a result, it was found that aromatherapy had positive effects on academic stress, depression, sleep quality, and heart rate variability in high school students. In conclusion, aromatherapy is an effective intervention for physical, psychological health maintenance and contribute to the prevention diseases by stress in high school students experiencing difficulties due to academic stress.