The Effects of Spirituality Group Therapy on Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in Patients with Hepatitis B

Symptoms of Hepatitis B disease could lead to various mental conditions, such as depression, anxiety, reduced general adaptability of the individual in multiple emotional, occupational, social, and health aspects. Ultimately, this issue could lead to a reduction in life expectancy and mental health in this group. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of spirituality group’s therapy on depression, stress, and anxiety in patients with hepatitis B.

This was a quasi–experimental study with a pretest–posttest and a control group design. The study sample consisted of 30 patients with hepatitis B, who were selected among all the patients who referred to Clinics in Hamadan City, Iran, in 2018. The inclusion criteria included the age range of 20–50 years, more than one year past since receiving the diagnosis, providing a consent form for participating in the treatment, the absence of acute psychological disorders, and the lack of receiving other counseling services. To measure the dependent variable, the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale–21 item (DASS) by Levi Bond & Levi Bond (1995) was applied. This scale has three components and 21 subscales; each part contains 7 subscales. After conducting the interviews and completing the DASS–21 questionnaire, using random sampling (n=15 per group), the study subjects were selected and randomly divided into two experimental groups and one control group. Frankelchr('39')s therapeutic spirituality model was used for the intervention program. After completing 10 sessions of spirituality group therapy (90–minute sessions a week for two months), the posttest was performed in all groups.

The obtained data were analyzed by SPSS using Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA). Before implementing the MANCOVA, the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test was used to establish the normal distribution of the scores of the control and experimental groups in the research variables. The relevant result was not significant; therefore, the assumption of the normal distribution of the scores was. The achieved results indicated that spirituality group therapy positively affected depression, stress, and anxiety symptoms in the studied patients with hepatitis B (p<0.001).

The current study results indicated that spirituality group therapy was effective in reducing depression, stress, and anxiety in patients with hepatitis B. Therefore, spirituality therapy could be used as a method for the growth and improvement of patients with hepatitis B.