Volume 7, Issue 4 (Autumn 2021)                   JCCNC 2021, 7(4): 255-262 | Back to browse issues page


XML Print


1- Department of Counseling, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
2- Department of Psychology and Education Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Khatam University, Tehran, Iran. , a.khodabakhshid@khatam.ac.ir
Abstract:   (3706 Views)
Background: Women with epilepsy face many physical and psychological problems due to their illness. Epilepsy affects women’s motherhood, parenting role, and quality of life. Thus, in addition to medical interventions, their recovery programs should also cover psychological therapies. Accordingly, this study aimed to examine the effectiveness of humor training on happiness and life satisfaction of female patients with epilepsy.
Methods: This study was conducted using a quasi-experimental method with a pretest-posttest design and control group. The research population included all female patients who were members of the Iranian Epilepsy Association, Tehran, in 2020. The subjects were selected using convenience sampling. To this end, 30 women who met the inclusion criteria were randomly assigned into the intervention (n=15) and control (n=15) groups. The intervention group attended eight 2-hour humor training sessions and the control group did not receive any training. The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) were completed by the subjects before and after the intervention. The collected data were analyzed by one-way Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) using SPSS 24.
Results: According to the findings, the patients who received humor training reported significantly higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction compared to the control group. There was a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test mean scores of happiness (pre-test: 38.20±3.59; post-test: 45.27±4.18) (F=26.37; P=0.001) and also, there was a significant difference between the mean scores of pre-test and post-test of life satisfaction (pre-test: 13.01±6.16; post-test: 18.67±5.70) (F=30.07; P=0.001) in the intervention group. This difference was not significant in the control group (p>0.05).
Conclusion: Humor training increased happiness and life satisfaction among women with epilepsy. This low-cost and easy-to-implement training is recommended to be used by psychologists and psychiatric nurses as a non-pharmacologic alternative along with other treatment options.
Full-Text [PDF 1037 kb]   (1180 Downloads) |   |   Full-Text (HTML)  (870 Views)  
● Epilepsy is a chronic disease and a common disorder that occurs as recurrent seizures. Psychological and social stresses affect the recurrence of epilepsy.
● Research on women’s epilepsy is important because it affects their hormonal changes, pregnancy, breastfeeding, and quality of life.
● The humor training program is a positive psychologic intervention, which reduces psychological distress and improves the quality of life through happiness.
● According to the findings of this study, the female patients reported high levels of happiness and life satisfaction after participating in eight sessions of humor training.
 
Plain Language Summary 
The humor training program is a positive psychological intervention that is used to treat many physical and mental illnesses. It has been shown that humor can help reduce anxiety, depression, death anxiety, and adjustment to disorders and chronic pain in adults and older adults. Also, humor helps to create moments of joy and positive emotions. The results of this study indicated that the life satisfaction and happiness of women with epilepsy increased after eight sessions of humor training.

Type of Study: Research | Subject: Special
Received: 2021/07/29 | Accepted: 2021/09/12 | Published: 2021/11/1

Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.