Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Training on Social Adjustment and Self-Care Behaviors in Cardiac Patients with Signs of Depression (After Open Surgery)

The present study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of mindfulness-based stress reduction training on social adjustment and self-care behaviors in cardiac patients with signs of depression (after open surgery). The present study was a quasi-experimental design with a pretest, a posttest, a control group, and a 2-month follow-up period. The statistical population of the study included patients who had undergone open heart surgery and were admitted with depressive symptoms to specialized cardiac hospitals (Chamran, Sina, and Milad) in Isfahan in the second half of 2019. Thirty-five cardiac patients with signs of depression were selected by purposive sampling and randomly divided into experimental and control groups (16 patients in the experimental group and 19 patients in the control group). The experimental group received eight seventy-five-minute sessions of mindfulness-based stress reduction interventions for two months. The questionnaires used in this study included the Depression Questionnaire, the Social Adjustment Questionnaire, and the Self-Care Behaviors Questionnaire. The data of the study were analyzed by repeated measures ANOVA using SPSS-23 statistical software. The results showed that mindfulness-based stress reduction training had a significant effect on the social adjustment and self-care behaviors of cardiac patients with signs of depression (p<0.001). The results of the present study suggest that mindfulness-based stress reduction training can be used as an effective intervention to improve social adjustment and self-care behaviors in cardiac patients with signs of depression by using techniques such as mindful attitudes, mindful activities, confronting problematic feelings and emotions, and breathing exercises to manage anger.