The Effect of Positive Psychotherapy on Perceived Competence and Quality of Life Among Children With Thalassemia

Abstract

Background: Thalassemia is one of the diseases that make people worried about their present and future status and is associated with a wide range of serious psychological and clinical challenges. Like any other chronic disease, thalassemia effects a patient’s psychological state and has adverse effects on mental health of the patient and his/her family. Objectives: Given the psychological problems that patients with thalassemia encounter, the present study aimed at investigating the effect of positive psychotherapy on perceived competence and quality of life among children with thalassemia in Zabul. Methods: This quasi-experimental study had a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The current study had a statistical population consisting of all children with thalassemia in Zabul, Iran, during year 2017. The sample included 30 children, selected using the convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to 2 groups of experimental and control. Positive psychotherapy was performed for the experimental group during 8 sessions (2 sessions per week) within a month. After completing the psychotherapy sessions, a posttest was carried out and a follow-up was conducted one month later. To collect data, Harter Perceived Competence Scale for Children and KIDSCREEN-Quality of Life Measure for Children and Adolescents were used. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics via the SPSS version 16 software. Results: Results of the analysis of covariance showed that due to the intervention, as the independent variable (positive psychotherapy), there were significant differences in the scores of perceived competence and quality of life (P < 0.005). In the posttest, 0.46 of the variance in perceived competence and 0.77 of the variance in quality of life, were explained by the independent variable (positive psychotherapy). Furthermore, in the follow-up, 0.52 of the variance in perceived competence and 0.41 of the variance in quality of life, were explained by the independent variable (positive psychotherapy). Conclusions: Regarding the effectiveness of positive psychotherapy in improving perceived competence and quality of life, specialists working at centers for special diseases are recommended to use positive psychotherapy programs to enhance perceived competence and quality of life among these patients.