Comparison of the Effectiveness of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Training and Positive Psychology Intervention in Hostility and Physiological Indicators among Cardiovascular Patients

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Department of psychology, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Background: There is ample evidence that cardiovascular diseases bring about many physical, psychological, emotional, and psychological consequences.
 
Objectives: The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) training with positive psychology in hostility and physiological parameters among cardiovascular patients.
 
Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted based on a pre-test post-test control group design. The statistical population included cardiovascular patients referred to cardiology centers in Tehran in the first six months of 2020. The sample consisted of 45 patients who were purposefully selected and randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group (n=15 in each group). Participants completed a hostility questionnaire before and after the intervention (Radford, 1990). The two experimental groups received the MBSR training program with positive psychology in eight 90-min weekly sessions, while the control group did not receive any training. To test the hypotheses, ANCOVA and MANCOVA analysis were used, along with the least significant difference (LSD) post hoc test.
 
Results: Based on the results, both methods of MBSR training and positive psychology had a significant effect on hostility and physiological indicators (pulse and blood pressure) in the experimental groups, compared to those obtained in the control group (P<0.001) in the post-test; nonetheless, no significant difference was observed between the two approaches (P>0.05).
 
Conclusion: As evidenced by the results of the current study, the MBSR intervention and positive psychology can be suggested as effective methods for the enhancement of general health and lifestyle and the mitigation of hostility among cardiovascular patients.
 

Keywords


Open Access Policy: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

 

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