Ethics code: IR.IAU.ARDABIL.REC.1401.127
Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
Aghaee V, Kazemi R, Taklavi S, Nazari V. Comparing the Effects of Existential Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on the Death Anxiety of Nurses in the Corona Wards. Qom Univ Med Sci J 2025; 19
URL: http://journal.muq.ac.ir/article-1-3914-en.html
URL: http://journal.muq.ac.ir/article-1-3914-en.html
1- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human Sciences, Ardabil Unit, University of Islamic Azad, Ardabil, Iran.
2- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human Sciences, Ardabil Unit, University of Islamic Azad, Ardabil, Iran. ,Rezak.kazemi@gmail.com
2- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human Sciences, Ardabil Unit, University of Islamic Azad, Ardabil, Iran. ,
Abstract: (749 Views)
Background and Objectives: Considering the adverse consequences of death anxiety on the psychological state of nurses, it is necessary to implement effective interventions and provide special suapport to them. The current study aims to compare the effects of existential therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on the death anxiety of nurses working in the Corona wards.
Methods: This is a quasi-experimental study. The study population consists of all nurses working in the Corona wards of hospitals in Qom, Iran, in 2023. By using a purposeful sampling method, 60 nurses withdeath anxiety based on Templer’s Death Anxiety scale score were selected and randomly divided into two experimental groups and one control group (each with 20 people). One of the experimental groups received existential therapy at 10 sessions of 90 minutes and the other experimental group received ACT at 8 sessions of 120 minutes. The control group also did not receive training. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including repeated measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni’s post hoc test.
Results: Both existential therapy and ACT significantly reduced the death anxiety of nurses in the post-test phase compared to the pre-test phase in the experimental groups (P<0.01). The decrease was maintained in the one-month follow-up phase. There was no statistically significant difference between the effectiveness of existential therapy and ACT in reducing the death anxiety of nurses (P>0.05).
Conclusion: Considering the effectiveness of both existential therapy and ACT, they can be used to reduce the death anxiety of nurses in the Corona wards.
Methods: This is a quasi-experimental study. The study population consists of all nurses working in the Corona wards of hospitals in Qom, Iran, in 2023. By using a purposeful sampling method, 60 nurses withdeath anxiety based on Templer’s Death Anxiety scale score were selected and randomly divided into two experimental groups and one control group (each with 20 people). One of the experimental groups received existential therapy at 10 sessions of 90 minutes and the other experimental group received ACT at 8 sessions of 120 minutes. The control group also did not receive training. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including repeated measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni’s post hoc test.
Results: Both existential therapy and ACT significantly reduced the death anxiety of nurses in the post-test phase compared to the pre-test phase in the experimental groups (P<0.01). The decrease was maintained in the one-month follow-up phase. There was no statistically significant difference between the effectiveness of existential therapy and ACT in reducing the death anxiety of nurses (P>0.05).
Conclusion: Considering the effectiveness of both existential therapy and ACT, they can be used to reduce the death anxiety of nurses in the Corona wards.
Type of Study: Original Article |
Subject:
پرستاری-روانپرستاری
Received: 2024/02/14 | Accepted: 2024/03/9 | Published: 2025/03/30
Received: 2024/02/14 | Accepted: 2024/03/9 | Published: 2025/03/30
References
1. Tehrani M, Hassanpoor A, Amiri Largani M. [Identifying the antecedents and consequences of death anxiety amongst nurses by meta synthesis and delphi methods (Persian)]. J Nurs Manage. 2021; 10(2):104-17. [Link]
2. Özgüç S, Kaplan Serin E, Tanriverdi D. Death anxiety associated with coronavirus (COVID-19) disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Omega. 2024; 88(3):823-56. [DOI:10.1177/00302228211050503] [PMID] [DOI:10.1177/00302228211050503]
3. Karabağ Aydın A, Fidan H. The effect of nurses' death anxiety on life satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. J Relig Health. 2022; 61(1):811-26. [DOI:10.1007/s10943-021-01357-9] [PMID] [DOI:10.1007/s10943-021-01357-9]
4. Parvin A, Sadeghiyan E, Tapak L, Shamsaei F. [Comparison of death anxiety and happiness of nurses working in corona wards with those of nurses working in other wards in educational-medical centers of Shiraz, Iran, In 2020 (Persian)]. Avicenna J Nurs Midwifery Care. 2022; 30(4):270-9. [DOI:10.32592/ajnmc.30.4.270] [DOI:10.32592/ajnmc.30.4.270]
5. Şahin MK, Aker S, Şahin G, Karabekiroğlu A. Prevalence of depression, anxiety, distress and insomnia and related factors in healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. J Community Health. 2020; 45(6):1168-77. [DOI:10.1007/s10900-020-00921-w] [PMID] [DOI:10.1007/s10900-020-00921-w]
6. Lee BEC, Ling M, Boyd L, Olsson C, Sheen J. The prevalence of probable mental health disorders among hospital healthcare workers during COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Affect Disord. 2023; 330:329-45. [DOI:10.1016/j.jad.2023.03.012] [PMID] [DOI:10.1016/j.jad.2023.03.012]
7. Hoffman L. Existential-humanistic therapy and disaster response: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. J Human Psychol. 2021; 61(1):33-54. [DOI:10.1177/0022167820931987] [DOI:10.1177/0022167820931987]
8. Hatami A, Tabatabaeinejad F. Effectiveness of existential therapy on emotional capital, cognitive emotion regulation, and mental well-being of undergraduate female students with social anxiety: A quasi-experimental study. J Rafsanjan University of Med Sci. 2023; 22(2):129-46. [DOI:10.52547/jrums.22.2.129] [DOI:10.52547/jrums.22.2.129]
9. Fatemi Z, Khakpour R. [The effectiveness of existential therapy on resilience and mental health ofmourning men and women by death of spouse during Covid 19 (Persian)]. J Appl Res Behav Sci. 2023; 15(55):51-69. [Link]
10. Alizadeh S, Taklavi S, Mahmoud Alilou M, Feizipour H. [The effectiveness of existential therapy on death anxiety and meaning of life in recovered patients of Covid-19 (Persian)]. Stud Med Sci. 2021; 32(5):388-98. [Link]
11. Shafiee Amiri M, Abbasi G, Fakhri MK. [The effects of acceptance and commitment therapy on cognitive evaluation, death anxiety, experimental avoidance, and emotional expression in nurses (Persian)]. Middle East J Disabil Stud. 2020; 10:220. [Link]
12. Sanabria-Mazo JP, D'Amico F, Cardeñosa E, Ferrer M, Edo S, Borràs X, et al. Economic evaluation of videoconference group acceptance and commitment therapy and behavioral activation therapy for depression versus usual care among adults with chronic low back pain plus comorbid depressive symptoms. J Pain. 2024; 25(7):104472. [DOI:10.1016/j.jpain.2024.01.337] [PMID] [DOI:10.1016/j.jpain.2024.01.337]
13. Moin ZZ, Abolmaali Alhoseini K, Seirafi MR. A comparison of effectiveness of spiritual therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on reducing existential anxiety in women with breast cancer. Couns Cult Psycother. 2023; 14(56):39-66. [DOI:10.22054/qccpc.2023.70009.3011]
14. Badrkhani M, Zangeneh Motlagh F, Pirani Z. [Comparison the efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy on death obsession of women in corona pandemic (Persian)]. J Psychol Sci. 2022; 21(116):1649-62. [DOI:10.52547/JPS.21.116.1649] [DOI:10.52547/JPS.21.116.1649]
15. Showani E, Asadpour E, Zahrakar K, Ahmadi S. [The efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on women's emotional empathy and forgiveness (Persian)]. J Psychol Sci. 2023; 22(122):229-48. [Link]
16. Mohebbi M, Navidi-Moghadam M. [The effectiveness of acceptance and commitment based therapy on reducing coronavirus anxiety and occupational stress in nurses (Persian)]. J Commun Health. 2023; 10(3):51-62. [Link]
17. Mosazadeh H, Błachnio A, Pirnia B. Effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on occupational stress and anxiety of nurses caring for patients with COVID-19 in Tehran. International Clinical Neuroscience Journal. 2021; 8(3):124-8. [DOI:10.34172/icnj.2021.26] [DOI:10.34172/icnj.2021.26]
18. Vafadar Sh. [Investigating the effectiveness of the therapeutic approach based on acceptance and commitment on tolerating uncertainty and death anxiety during the quarantine caused by the corona disease (Persian)]. N Strateg Psychol Educ Sci. 2021; 3(12):12-23. [Link]
19. Asadi L, Seyrafi MR, Ahadi M. [The effectiveness of existential therapy on health anxiety, loneliness and death anxiety in the elderly (Persian)]. Med J Mashhad Univ Med Sci. 2023; 66(1):137-47. [Link]
20. Dadfar M, Lester D. Cronbach's α reliability, concurrent validity, and factorial structure of the death depression scale in an iranian hospital staff sample. Int J Nurs Sci. 2017; 4(2):135-41. [DOI:10.1016/j.ijnss.2017.02.007] [DOI:10.1016/j.ijnss.2017.02.007]
21. Hayes SC, Strosahl KD, Wilson KG. Acceptance and commitment therapy: The process and practice of mindful change. New York: Guilford Press; 2011. [Link]
22. Sadri Demichi E, Ramezani S. [Effectiveness of existential therapy on loneliness and death anxiety in the elderly (Persian)]. Aging Psychol. 2016; 2(1):12-1. [Link]
23. Soleimaninia A, Mansouri A, Bagherzadeh Golmakani Z, Zendehdel A. [The effectiveness of existential therapy on life expectancy and self-care behaviors in women with type II Diabetes (Persian)]. Iran J Diab Metab. 2022; 22(4):245-54. [Link]
24. Udo C. The concept and relevance of existential issues in nursing. Eur J Oncol Nurs. 2014; 18(4):347-54. [DOI:10.1016/j.ejon.2014.04.002] [PMID] [DOI:10.1016/j.ejon.2014.04.002]
25. Browall M, Henoch I, Melin-Johansson C, Strang S, Danielson E. Existential encounters: Nurses' descriptions of critical incidents in end-of-life cancer care. Eur J Oncol Nurs. 2014; 18(6):636-44. [DOI:10.1016/j.ejon.2014.06.001] [PMID] [DOI:10.1016/j.ejon.2014.06.001]
26. O'Brien WH, Singh RS, Horan K, Moeller MT, Wasson R, Jex SM. Group-based acceptance and commitment therapy for nurses and nurse aides working in long-term care residential settings. J Altern Complement Med. 2019; 25(7):753-61. [DOI:10.1089/acm.2019.0087] [PMID] [DOI:10.1089/acm.2019.0087]
27. Frögéli E, Djordjevic A, Rudman A, Livheim F, Gustavsson P. A randomized controlled pilot trial of acceptance and commitment training (ACT) for preventing stress-related ill health among future nurses. Anxiety Stress Coping. 2016; 29(2):202-18. [DOI:10.1080/10615806.2015.1025765] [PMID] [DOI:10.1080/10615806.2015.1025765]
28. Lee JW, Ha JH. [The effects of an acceptance-commitment therapy based stress management program on hospitalization stress, self-efficacy and psychological well-being of inpatients with schizophrenia (Korean)]. J Korean Acad Nurs. 2018; 48(4):443-53. [DOI:10.4040/jkan.2018.48.4.443] [PMID] [DOI:10.4040/jkan.2018.48.4.443]
29. Miri M, Vaziri S, Ahi Q, Shahabizadeh F, Mahmoodirad A. [Comparison of the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy and rational-emotional-behavioral therapy on depression and anxiety in patients with hypertension (Persian)]. Med J Mashhad Univ Med Sci. 2022; 65(1):276-87. [Link]
Send email to the article author
| Rights and permissions | |
 |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
Owned by Qom University of Medical Sciences
Published by Qom University of Medical Sciences Press
eISSN: 2008-1375
pISSN: 1735-7799
Email: journal[at]muq.ac.ir
j.mua.ac[at]gmail.com
