STRESS: BRIDGE ET AL.

Question 1

Describe the context of the study

Answer 1

• Research has found that receiving a diagnosis of breast cancer can cause significant stress in patients
• Treatments include surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. These treatments are known to be challenging physically and psychological.
• Patel et al. found that relaxation treatment helped reduce stress in patients who had hypertension
• Relaxation and imagery techniques can help patients to deal with the psychological stresses of diagnosis and treatment.

Question 2

What was the aim

Answer 2

• To see whether stress could be reduced in patients who had been diagnosed with early breast cancer and were being treated with radiotherapy.

Question 3

Describe the sample

Answer 3

• opportunity sample
• 139 women
• had either been treated with a mastectomy or breast conservation lumpectomy
• all women were attending a 6-week outpatient course of radiotherapy at Middlesex Hospital
• All under the age of 70 years

Question 4

describe the quantitative measures used

Answer 4

• Leeds General Scale for the Self- Assessment of Depression and Anxiety: Self report that measured mood with cancer patients
• The profile of Mood States questionnaire: 65-item questionnaire that measures aspects such as fatigue, anger and confusion.

Question 5

State the 3 conditions

Answer 5

1. The control condition
2. The relaxation treatment group
3. The relaxation plus imagery group

Question 6

Describe what happened at the start of the study

Answer 6

• All women completed at least one session of radiotherapy before being invited to the study
• They were informed that the study was carried out to investigate ways of reducing stress
• Participants completed both questionnaires at the start of the study
• All participants were seen individually by one of the 2 researchers, once a week

Question 7

What were the relaxation treatment groups taught

Answer 7

• They were taught relaxation techniques which involved learning how to relax individual muscles throughout the body
• Diaphragmatic breathing: which slows the breathing rate and helps the individual become calmer and more relaxed.
• session lasted 30 mins
• They were asked to practise these techniques at home for a minimum of 15 mins per day.
• They were given audio tapes which repeated the instructions for all techniques taught.
• Participants completed both questionnaires at the end of the six week study

Question 8

What were the ‘relaxation plus imagery’ group taught

Answer 8

• They were taught to imagine a ‘peaceful scene’ of their choice to help increase the relaxation
• session lasted 30 mins
• They were asked to practise these techniques at home for a minimum of 15 mins per day.
• They were given audio tapes which repeated the instructions for all techniques taught.
• Participants completed both questionnaires at the end of the six week study

Question 9

State 2 results

Answer 9

• The relaxation and imagery showed the greatest effect
• In the control group, total mood disturbance got worse

Question 10

State 3 conclusions

Answer 10

• Relaxation combined with imagery is effective at reducing mood disturbances
• Mood disturbances worsen in patients with no intervention
• The treatments may be more effective in older women due to having more time to focus on interventions.

Question 11

State 3 strengths

Answer 11

• The study followed standardised procedures. They ensured that the women in the treatment groups were taught the techniques in the same way and were given practice tapes to enable them to continue the exercises at home.
• The use of RCTs by allocating them to either the control group or treatment groups can increase validity be reducing any bias and participant variables affecting the results
• All gave a valid consent and had been fully debriefed. They also informed the women that their results would appear in their medical records and confidentiality was maintained.

Question 12

State 2 weaknesses

Answer 12

• The weakness of self reports such as the Profile of Mood states was used to measure moods such as depression. It could have led to desirable responses as the women may not want to be seen as depressed therefore lowering validity
• A relatively small sample was used as there were only 44-48 women in each group and even lower when they broke down into women over the age of 54 with as little as 15 women being over 54 years old in the relaxation group.

Question 13

Applicability:

Answer 13

• The relaxation techniques were effective in reducing stress and depression in women over 54 and these interventions could therefore target older women who are likely to benefit

Question 14

Determinism versus Free will

Answer 14

• The study supports free will due to people exercising free will to help manage low mood during cancer treatment.
• The study demonstrates that mental wellbeing does not need to be determined by the treatments people are receiving but their attitudes