CLINICAL RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Please note: All posters will be displayed in
Salons 10-12.
FRIDAY, 5:45-6:30 PM
Benn R, Moura V, Sill M.
Mind-body skills for women with a history of abuse: a
pilot intervention study.
University of Michigan ritabenn@umich.edu
This study used a mixed method design to examine the
effects of a 12-week intervention program for women with a history of
emotional, physical and/or sexual abuse. The primary purpose of this
study was to determine if participation in a group-based program using
mind-body skills techniques resulted in improvements in psychological
functioning and quality of life when compared to a wait-list control
group. A secondary purpose was to describe the longer-term (i.e. 3 months
post-intervention) qualitative impact of this experience. The Mind Body
skills intervention program was modeled Dr. James Gordon's mind-body-skills
professional training program. The program consists of 12 weekly 2-hour
sessions where participants learn, practice and discuss various techniques
of mind-body medicine (e.g. guided imagery, meditation, breathing, artwork,
journaling and movement) in a group with the guidance of a trained group
facilitator. In between sessions, participants practice techniques and
record their daily experience in a diary log that they return to the
facilitator.
Twenty-four women between the ages 22 - 63 who experienced
a history of abuse participated in the study. Women were recruited through
advertisements posted in the community. The experimental arm consisted
of two mind-body skills groups (N=15). Nine women served in one wait
list control group. All groups were demographically similar with regard
to demographic and baseline indices. Study participants completed standardized
questionnaires at baseline and at the completion of the 12 week intervention
interval. Endpoints assessed were levels of perceived stress, mood states,
psychological symptoms, hope and gratitude. Following the intervention,
participants were contacted monthly by telephone to obtain information
about their use of the mind-body practices and its perceived impact
on their physical and emotional health. To identify potential long-term
benefits, participants completed an in-person 30-minute interview at
the final three month follow-up interval.
Independent T-tests were used for preliminary data
analysis on questionnaire measures. Findings revealed statistically
significant changes in participants' perceived level of stress, anxiety,
general psychological symptoms, and hope (all were p<.05). No between
group differences occurred for overall mood state, depression subscale
or measure of gratitude. Qualitative themes that emerged from the three
month interviews using Atlas-ti software revealed the following improvements:
women reported increased self-respect and control, better relationships
with family members and greater attention to self-care. They credited
the use of the mind-body techniques for engendering inner-strength and
emotional stability, and attributed major importance to the group context
for facilitating well-being.
These beneficial results suggest that this intervention
be validated on a larger scale.
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