The effectiveness of metacognitive therapy on excessive worry accompanied by anxiety and caregiving stress in family caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Clinical and Health Psychology , Ar.C. ,Islamic Azad University ,Arak, Iran.

2 Department of Midwifery , Ar.C., Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran. (Corresponding author)

3 Department of Psychology , Ash.C., Islamic Azad University, Ashtian, Iran.

4 Department of Clinical and Health Psychology , Ar.C., Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: In today's world, Alzheimer's disease is one of the major challenges for public health. Caring for patients with this disease puts a lot of pressure on family caregivers. In this regard, paying attention to effective strategies to reduce caregiving pressure and improve the mental state of caregivers is of great importance.
Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of metacognitive therapy on hyper-worrying accompanied by anxiety and caregiving pressure of family caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease.
Method: This study was conducted using a quasi-experimental method with a two-group pre-test-post-test design. The statistical population of this study included all family caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease in Arak. Among them, caregivers who had referred to the Alzheimer's Association of Markazi Province in 1403 were selected. In this study, 24 caregivers were selected using purposive non-random sampling and randomly divided into two experimental and control groups (12 in each group). The research instruments included Jones' irrational beliefs, Novak's and Gast's caregiving stress questionnaires. The experimental group participated in 12 90-minute sessions of metacognitive therapy, while the control group did not receive any intervention.
The data were analyzed using multivariate and univariate analysis of covariance.
Findings: The results showed that metacognitive therapy had a significant effect on reducing anxiety-related hyper-worry and improving caregiving stress in the experimental group compared to the control group. P <0.05)

Keywords

Medical Journal of Mashhad university of Medical Sciences
Volume 68, Issue 3
May and June 2025

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