Effect of the combination of Benson's relaxation technique and brief psychoeducational intervention on religious coping, sense of coherence, and quality of life of family caregivers

INTRODUCTION: Chronic diseases leave a huge impact on the life of children and their family caregivers (FCGs). Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the effect of the combination of Benson's relaxation technique (BRT) and brief psycho-educational intervention (BPI) on religious coping (RCOPE), sense of coherence (SOC), and quality of life (QoL) of FCGs in children with chronic disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study population, consisted of 100 FCGs whose children were afflicted by chronic diseases, and participated in the current quasi-experimental pretest posttest design. The children were recruited from two state pediatric hospitals in Tehran, Iran. The RCOPE, SOC, and QoL of FCGs were assessed twice, through pretest (T1) and posttest (T2), four weeks after the intervention, by means of RCOPE, SOC and SF-36 questionnaires. The FCGs participated in four training sessions lasting up to 70 min over one week, followed by four more weeks of training. The Chi-square, Fisher's exact tests, independent t-test, and paired t-test were performed. RESULTS: Positive RCOPE had a significant rise at T2 (P = 0.020) compared with negative RCOPE that did not show significant changes in T2. SOC scores for the intervention group remarkably rose at T2 (P = 0.022); but, for the control group, the drop was marginal. The QoL scores of both physical and mental components were statistically significant in the intervention group at T2 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Findings of the present study suggest that BRT and BPI can help significantly improve the RCOPE, SOC, and QoL of families with children suffering from chronic diseases. Measures that could enhance the RCOPE, SOC, and QoL include low-cost interventions, good safety, and decent outcome.