Pythagorean Self Awareness Intervention in Caregivers of Patients with Motor Disabilities

Authors

  • Fotini Voulgari Postgraduate Course of Science of Stress and Health Promotion, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens
  • Flora Bacopoulou University Research Institute of Maternal and Child Health & Precision Medicine and UNESCO Chair on Adolescent Health Care, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aghia Sophia Children's Hospital, Athens
  • Artemios Artemiadis Medical School, University of Cyprus, Nicosia
  • Ioulia Kokka Postgraduate Course of Science of Stress and Health Promotion, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens
  • Dimitrios Vlachakis University Research Institute of Maternal and Child Health & Precision Medicine and UNESCO Chair on Adolescent Health Care, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aghia Sophia Children's Hospital, Athens, Greece Laboratory of Genetics, Department of Biotechnology, School of Applied Biology and Biotechnology, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece Lab of Molecular Endocrinology, Center of Clinical, Experimental Surgery and Translational Research, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Greece Department of Informatics, Faculty of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, King’s College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom
  • Xanthi Tigani Postgraduate Course of Science of Stress and Health Promotion, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens
  • George P. Chrousos University Research Institute of Maternal and Child Health & Precision Medicine and UNESCO Chair on Adolescent Health Care, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aghia Sophia Children's Hospital, Athens
  • Christina Darviri Postgraduate Course of Science of Stress and Health Promotion, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14806/ej.26.1.970

Keywords:

caregiver, Pythagorean Self-Awareness, disability, stress, depression, anxiety, sleep, visual memory, self-efficacy, cognitive

Abstract

Caregiving for disabled people is a strenuous task often provided by family members, with adverse repercussions on the caregivers’ health. The aim of this study was to evaluate, for the first time, the effects of a novel cognitive-based stress management technique, the Pythagorean Self-Awareness Intervention (PSAI) on the stress levels and other cognitive and psychological characteristics of non-paid caregivers of patients with motor disability. In this quasi-experimental study, 59 caregivers of first-degree relatives with motor disabilities due to chronic neurological diseases, inpatients at a Rehabilitation Center, in Athens, Greece, were assigned to an intervention (PSAI, n=28) and a control group (received unstructured consultation, n=31). Psychological, cognitive, and sleep-related measurements (Zarit Burden Interview tool, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Self-Efficacy Scale, Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale, Symbol Digit Modalities Test, California Verbal Learning Test-II, Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised) were held at baseline and after 8 weeks (at completion of PSAI) in both groups. PSAI was found to decrease caregivers’ stress, depressive symptoms and anxiety and improve their sleep quality, visual memory, self-efficacy, and cognitive speed processing. Future randomized controlled studies are needed to investigate the effects of this novel intervention in larger samples of caregivers. 

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Published

2021-08-23

Issue

Vol. 26: Special issue to Biostatistics and Mathematical Modelling in Bioinformatics

Section

Research Papers

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