The Effectiveness of Relaxation Techniques Training on Mental Health Indicators and and Resilience of Mothers of Children with Leukemia

The diagnosis of cancer among children is a life-changing event for themselves and their family. The present study is a semi-experimental pretest-posttest with control group. The statistical population of the study included all mothers with a child with leukemia who referred to the oncology department of 17 Shahrivar Hospital in Rasht city. Thirty mothers who had a child with leukemia were randomly divided into two groups: relaxation training (15) and control group (15). Then, they completed questionnaires of general health questionnaire (GHQ) and Scale of Resilience in three stages of pre-test, post-test and follow-up. The training group received relaxation techniques for 2 months (8 sessions of 2 hours). After 2 months, the follow up was performed. Data was analyzed using SPSS 19 and by Covariance and repeated measure ANOVA. Mancova showed that the training of relaxation techniques in post-test stage has a significant effect on physical complaints, social anxiety and depression and increases resiliency (P<0.01). The results of repeated measures analysis of variance showed that the effect of relaxation techniques on mental health indicators, anxiety (P<0.01) social withdrawal and depression (P<0.05) and resiliency (P<0.01) remained up to follow up stage. According to the results, it can be said that the training of relaxation techniques should be part of the treatment plans for mothers with cancer in hospitals and counseling centers.