Reza Yazdanimehr1, Abdollah Omidi1, Zohreh Sadat2, Hossein Akbari3
1Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
2Trauma Nursing Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
3Department of Biostatistics and Public Health, Faculty of Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
Abstract
Introduction: Pregnancy can be associated with different psychological problems suchas depression and anxiety. These problems are often neglected and left untreated. Thisstudy aimed to examine the effect of mindfulness-integrated cognitive behavior therapyon depression and anxiety among pregnant women.
Methods: A convenient sample of 80 pregnant women were selected. Participants wererandomly allocated to either the experimental or the control groups. Participants in theexperimental group received mindfulness-integrated cognitive behavior therapy whilewomen in the control group only received routine prenatal care services. Ademographic questionnaire, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, and the BeckAnxiety Inventory were used for data collection. Descriptive statistics measures suchas frequency, mean, and standard deviation as well as the repeated-measures analysisof variance test were used for data analysis.
Results: After the study intervention, the mean scores of anxiety and depression in theexperimental group were significantly lower than the control group.
Conclusion: Mindfulness-integrated cognitive behavior therapy can significantlyalleviate pregnant women’s depression and anxiety. So implementation of this methodalongside with other prenatal care services is recommended.
Read the full article here:
J Caring Sci 2016; 5 (3): 195-203
doi:10.15171/jcs.2016.021