Jalilvandy A, Sheikhi M R, Khodabakhshi-Koolaee A. How does the Benson Relaxation Response Reduce Anxiety in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)?. JCCNC 2025; 11 (1)
URL:
http://jccnc.iums.ac.ir/article-1-617-en.html
1- Department of Psychology and Education, Faculty of Humanities, Khatam University, Tehran, Iran.
2- Psychiatric Nursing Department, School of Nursing, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences (QUMS), Qazvin, Iran.
3- Department of Psychology and Education, Faculty of Humanities, Khatam University, Tehran, Iran . , a.khodabakhshid@khatam.ac.ir
Abstract: (214 Views)
Background: Having a child with autism causes depression, anxiety, and distress in the parents. This study aimed to investigate the effect of Benson relaxation response on the anxiety of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder.
Methods: It was a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest design and a control group. The subjects were 100 mothers with autistic children admitted to Shahid Zolfaghari Autism Support Center located in Tehran, Iran in 2023 who were selected using convenience sampling and were randomly assigned into two intervention and control groups (each with 50 participants). Participants in groups of 5-6 received Benson's relaxation method in eight steps. The steps were repeated until all groups had acquired the required skill. Then the subjects were asked to repeat this intervention twice a day for 30 days. The posttest was done after 30 days of relaxation sessions at home in both groups. The data were collected using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and Paired difference t-test) in SPSS software, version 26. The significance level was set at P<0.05).
Results: The findings showed no statistically significant difference between the mean anxiety scores of the mothers in the intervention group (31.26 ±4.57 58) and the control group (32.14 ±4. 8 57) before the intervention (p-value > 0.05). However, after the intervention, a statistically significant difference was observed between the mean anxiety scores for the mothers in the intervention group (25.38 ±6.01) and the control group (33.04 ±4.41) (t = 5.73; P = 0.001). Also after controlling the effect of covariates, the participants’ anxiety scores after the intervention showed a statistically significant difference (F=52.76, p=0.001).
Conclusion: The Benson relaxation response was effective in reducing the anxiety of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Thus, psychiatric nurses and mental health professionals can use Benson relaxation response along with other treatments to improve the anxiety of mothers of children with ASD.
Type of Study:
Research |
Subject:
Special Received: 2024/05/24 | Accepted: 2024/10/13 | Published: 2025/01/1