Effectiveness of Meta-cognitive Based-training on Emotion Regulation and Anxiety Sensitivity in Elderly with History of Cardiovascular Disease Living in Elderly Care Homes in Tehran City

Background & aim:

As elderly in each community are more exposed to stress and anxiety as a result of physical and psychological problems, this study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Meta-cognitive based-training on emotion regulation and anxiety sensitivity in elderly with cardiovascular disease living in elderly care home in Tehran city.

The statistical population consisted of all elderly with heart disease living in elderly care homes with cardiovascular disease in Tehran city in 2018, with total number of 119 elderly among them 50 were selected by random sampling and divided into two groups with pre-test and post-test design (25 cases in experiment and 25 in control group).
Interventions based on metacognitive training on elderly with history of heart disease were performed for 8 sessions of 60 minutes, one session per week. Research tools included the Gross & John (2003) Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ-10) containing 10 items and two subscales of reassessment (6 items) and subdue (4 items) as well as Taylor & Cox's Anxiety Sensitivity Scale (ASS) (1998) with 36 self-report materials. Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance.

The results indicated a significant deference between two groups (control & experiment) (p<0.001). Also, the results of single-variable using SPSS-23 software showed a significant deference in two variables (p<0.001).

The results showed that training based on meta-cognitive can be effective in emotion regulation and anxiety sensitivity in elderly with cardiovascular disease. So, it is suggested to health professionals to pay special attention to it.