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The Effect of Emotion Regulation Training on Stress, Anxiety, and Depression in Family Caregivers of Patients with Schizophrenia: A Randomized Controlled Trial

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Abstract

Schizophrenia is the most severe chronic disabling psychiatric disorder that needs long term care in various aspects. Therefore, the family’s emotional atmosphere caused by the disease affects the condition of the patients’ caregivers. This study aimed to investigate the effect of emotional regulation training on stress, anxiety, and depression in caregivers of patients with schizophrenia. The study was a randomized controlled trial. Seventy caregivers of patients with schizophrenia randomly assigned to a group that received emotion regulation training and a control group. The intervention group was trained about emotion regulation during eight 90-min sessions. The participants completed the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales-21 questionnaire before and one month after the intervention. The results showed that stress, anxiety and depression scores significantly reduced in the intervention group compared to the control group. Emotional regulation training with cognitive methods has significantly reduced the anxiety, stress, and depression of caregivers of patients with schizophrenia.

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Acknowledgements

We would thank all caregivers of patients with schizophrenia who participated in this study as well as psychiatric wards that cooperated in the research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

    Maryam Behrouian

  2. Department of Public Health, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

    Tahereh Ramezani

  3. Department of Critical Care, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

    Mahlagha Dehghan

  4. Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

    Abdoreza Sabahi

  5. Shaheed Beheshti Medical Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

    Batool Ebrahimnejad Zarandi

  6. Razi Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Haft-Bagh Highway, Kerman, Iran

    Mahlagha Dehghan

Authors
  1. Maryam Behrouian
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  2. Tahereh Ramezani
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  3. Mahlagha Dehghan
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  4. Abdoreza Sabahi
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  5. Batool Ebrahimnejad Zarandi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mahlagha Dehghan.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

Ethical Approval

The Kerman University of Medical Sciences Ethics Committee approved the study (IR.KMU.REC.1395.566, IRCT2017061733997N2). The researcher gave explanations to the samples on their optional presence and that they can leave the study whenever they want. We also assured the participants that the collected information was confidential and would be used only for the research.

Informed Consent

Written informed consent was received from the caregivers of the patients.

Human and Animal Rights

The study protocol was in accordance with ethical standards of Kerman University of Medical Sciences on human experimentation.

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Behrouian, M., Ramezani, T., Dehghan, M. et al. The Effect of Emotion Regulation Training on Stress, Anxiety, and Depression in Family Caregivers of Patients with Schizophrenia: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Community Ment Health J 56, 1095–1102 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-020-00574-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-020-00574-y

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