The influence of acceptance and commitment therapy on the psychological flexibility, self-compassion, anxiety and depression of the primary caregivers of patients with primary liver cancer / 中国实用护理杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the intervention effect of acceptance and commitment therapy on the psychological flexibility, self-compassion, anxiety and depression of the primary caregivers of patients with primary liver cancer, so as to provide reference for the clinical care of the primary caregivers of cancer patients.Methods:This was a prospective study. A total of 80 primary caregivers of patients with primary liver cancer treated in Tianyou Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology from July to December 2021 were selected as the observation objects, and they were randomly divided into the control group and the intervention group according to the random drawing method, with 40 cases in each group. The control group was given routine nursing measures, while the intervention group was given acceptance and commitment therapy on the basis of routine nursing. The intervention effect was evaluated by the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-2nd Edition (AAQ-Ⅱ), Self-Compassion Scale Short-Form (SCS-SF) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) before the intervention, on the day of discharge, and one month after discharge.Results:Finally, 71 primary caregivers completed the intervention and follow-up, 36 in the control group and 35 in the intervention group. Before the intervention, there was no statistically significant difference in the scores of AAQ-Ⅱ, SCS-SF, Anxiety subscale of HADS(HADS-A) and Depression subscale of HADS(HADS-D) between the two groups ( P>0.05). The AAQ-Ⅱscores of the intervention group on the day of discharge and one month after discharge were (19.63±2.59), (19.12 ± 2.20) points, which were significantly lower than those of the control group (23.14 ± 2.49), (22.56 ± 2.40) points. The differences were statistically significant ( t=5.83, 6.25, both P<0.01). The SCS-SF scores of the intervention group on the day of discharge and one month after discharge were (39.34 ± 2.68), (39.89 ± 2.81) points, which were significantly higher than those of the control group (36.69 ± 3.08), (37.72 ± 2.41) points, the differences were statistically significant ( t=-3.86, -3.49, both P<0.01). The HADS-A/HADS-D scores of the intervention group on the day of discharge and one month after discharge were (9.31 ± 1.95), (9.09 ± 1.60) points and (8.80 ± 2.15), (8.54 ± 1.75) points,which were significantly lower than those of the control group(11.42 ± 1.50), (11.03 ± 1.70) points and (10.11 ± 1.92), (10.03 ± 1.84) points, the differences were statistically significant( t values were 2.71-5.10, all P<0.01). The scores of AAQ-Ⅱ, SCS-SF, HADS-A and HADS-D of the two groups were analyzed by repeated measures analysis of variance, and there were significant differences in time effect, inter-group effect and interaction effect ( F vaules were 3.42-37.90, all P<0.05). Conclusions:Acceptance and commitment therapy can improve the self-compassion and psychological flexibility, reduce anxiety and depression of the primary caregivers of patients with primary liver cancer.