A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Schema-based and Caregiver-centered Mindfulness Methods on Psychological Distress and Burden in Caregivers of Patients with Dementia

The stressful and chronic process of caring for patients with dementia is a long process that imposes too much care burden. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of comparing the effectiveness of schema-based and caregiver-centered mindfulness methods on psychological distress and burden in caregivers of patients with dementia.

This semi-experimental research was conducted with a pre-test-post-test and follow-up design with a control group. The study population was the caregivers of patients with dementia who visited the neurology clinics of Kashani and Khurshid hospitals in Isfahan during the summer of 1401. Among these caregivers, 45 people were selected through convenient sampling while considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria. They were randomly divided into two experimental groups and a control group (15 people in each group). The two experimental groups completed eight 90-minute sessions of schema-based and caregiver-based mindfulness therapy separately. The data collection tools were DASS psychological distress and Zarit burden questionnaires. The data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance by SPSS-23 software.

The results showed that the mean scores of the psychological distress and burden were significantly different in the two groups of schema-based and caregiver-centered mindfulness and the control group in both the post-test and follow-up phases (p<0.05). However, in the comparison of the two treatment methods, the results indicated that the mean scores of the study variables in the post-test and follow-up phase in the two intervention groups did not show any significant difference.

The results showed that due to the lack of significant difference between the two treatment methods, schema-based and caregiver-centered mindfulness methods can be used to reduce psychological distress and burden in caregivers of patients with dementia.