differences in the effectiveness of progressive muscle relaxation and dysmenorrhea exercises to reduce the anxiety of adolescents experiencing menstrual pain

Most of the anxiety that occurs when teenagers experience menstrual pain results in activity disruption. with activity disruption, students’ learning productivity decreases, resulting in a decrease in learning achievement. this study aimed to determine the difference in anxiety levels in adolescents experiencing menstrual pain who underwent progressive muscle relaxation therapy and dysmenorrhea exercises. the research design was a quasi-experiment with a two-group pretest and posttest design approach. respondents who met the criteria were teenagers aged 12 to 15 years who experienced anxiety when having menstrual pain. measurement of anxiety levels was conducted using the depression anxiety stress scale (dass). the level of anxiety in adolescents before receiving progressive muscle relaxation therapy had an average anxiety score of 11.75 with a standard deviation of 2.619. in contrast, the level of anxiety in adolescents before being given dysmenorrhea gymnastics therapy had an average of 12.7, with a standard deviation of 2.472. the level of anxiety in adolescents after receiving progressive muscle relaxation therapy had an average anxiety score of 7.93 with a standard deviation of 2.165. in contrast, the level of anxiety in adolescents after being given dysmenorrhea gymnastics therapy had an average of 11.75, with a standard deviation of 2.619. it can be concluded that dysmenorrhea exercises are more effective in reducing anxiety in adolescents experiencing menstrual pain compared to progressive muscle relaxation because there is a more progressive muscle movement process in dysmenorrhea gymnastics than in progressive muscle relaxation, although both interventions utilize muscle movement and deep breathing relaxation. dysmenorrhea exercises are more effective in reducing anxiety in adolescents who experience menstrual pain.