Skip to content

The effect of educational intervention according to Mindfulness on the psychological well-being of female heads of households

Fataneh Mahmoodi, Maryam Zarnaghash, Nadereh Sohrabi Shegefti, Majid Barzegar

Research Square October 17, 2023 preprint DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3409489/v1 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Semi-experimental pretest-posttest design with control group
Sample size 30
Population Female heads of households in Shiraz city with a file at the Shiraz welfare office whose children attended schools under the 2nd district education office in 2022–2023
Duration 8 sessions of 90 minutes
Measures psychological well-being questionnaire (Ryff, 1989)
Topics Meditation
Key findings Mindfulness-based training was associated with significantly higher post-intervention scores on autonomy, personal growth, purpose in life, self-acceptance, positive relations with others, and overall psychological well-being compared with no intervention, but no significant difference was found for environmental mastery (P = 0.602). The authors suggest psychologists can use this training to increase psychological well-being in female heads of households.

Abstract

Abstract Objective Low level of psychological well-being is one of the most common problems of female heads of households, and various educational programs have been conducted to improve the psychological well-being of this group, the present study was conducted to develop the effect of educational intervention according to Mindfulness on the psychological well-being of female heads of households.

Methods: The method of this research was semi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population of the research included all female heads of households in Shiraz city who had a file in the Shiraz city welfare office and at the same time their children were studying in schools covered by the 2nd district education office of Shiraz city in 2022–2023. Among the female heads of households in the statistical community, 30 women were selected as available and then randomly divided into two groups of 15 including experimental group (training based on mindfulness) and a control group. The research tool included psychological well-being questionnaire (Ryff, 1989). The experimental group was subjected to training based on mindfulness-based therapy (Baer et al., 2006) during 8 90-minute sessions, But the members of the control group did not receive any intervention.

Result: After intervention, there was a significant difference between the components of individual independence, personal development, purposefulness in life, self-acceptance, positive relationship with others, and psychological well-being after the educational intervention between the experimental and control groups (P < 0.05), but no significant difference in Environmental Mastery after the educational intervention between the experimental and control groups (P = 0.602).

Conclusion: According to the results, it seems that psychologists can use the method of training based on mindfulness therapy in order to increase the psychological well-being of women heads of households.

Comparable studies

Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) 2003 Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study
Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. 2008 Controlled laboratory experiment
Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. 2012 Two studies: correlational study and experimental study
Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence 2009 Experimental study
Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population 2006 Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition

Citations in the library

Explore topics