Effects of a biopsychosocial empowerment program on mental health and quality of life in parents of child organ donors: A mixed-methods study
Social Determinants of Health,
Vol. 11 (2025),
1 January 2025
,
Page 1-10
https://doi.org/10.22037/sdh.v11i1.49465
Abstract
Background: Bereaved parents of child organ donors often experience profound psychological distress. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a comprehensive psychological empowerment program designed to enhance quality of life and cognitive empowerment for this vulnerable population.
Methods: A mixed-methods study combined qualitative grounded theory with a quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test control group design to evaluate a psychological-cognitive empowerment program. Qualitative sampling used a purposive method until theoretical saturation. For the quantitative phase, 30 participants were selected via convenience sampling from the organ procurement unit. Mental health was measured using the SCL-90 questionnaire and quality of life was assessed with the WHOQOL-BREF instrument.
Results: Findings from the qualitative phase revealed that the psychological-cognitive empowerment program consisting of eight 90-minute sessions focusing on cognitive behavior therapy using Lawshe's seven-step technique was validated. Moreover, repeated-measures ANOVA demonstrated statistically significant improvements in both mental health (p = 0.005) and quality of life (p = 0.013) scores at post-test.
Conclusion: The comprehensive psychological-cognitive empowerment program was effective in improving the mental health and quality of life of bereaved parents of child organ donors. These findings underscore the importance of targeted psychological support for this population.
- Bereaved Parents
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Empowerment
- Organ Donation
- Mental Health
- Quality of Life
How to Cite
References
1. Greer DM. Determination of brain death. New England Journal of Medicine. 2021;385(27):2554-61.
2. Lewis A, editor An Update on brain death/death by neurologic criteria since the world brain death project. Seminars in Neurology; 2024: Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.
3. Benini F, Cancelli F. Pediatrics and Aging: Palliative Care. Finding Dignity at the End of Life: Routledge; 2020. p. 154-79.
4. Skevington SM, Lotfy M, O'Connell KA. Domain-Specific QoL Impairments in Traumatic Bereavement: A WHOQOL Validation Study. Quality of life Research. 2024;33(1):89-102.
5. Wulfovich S, Buur J, Wac K. Unfolding the quantification of quality of life. Quantifying Quality of Life: Incorporating Daily Life into Medicine: Springer International Publishing Cham; 2022. p. 3-24.
6. Seyedfatemi N, Ghezeljeh TN, Bolhari J, Rezaei M. Effects of family-based dignity intervention and expressive writing on anticipatory grief of family caregivers of patients with cancer: a study protocol for a four-arm randomized controlled trial and a qualitative process evaluation. Trials. 2021;22(1):751.
7. Carr D, Mooney H. Bereavement in later life. Handbook of aging and the social sciences: Elsevier; 2021. p. 239-54.
8. Rosenberg AR, Postier A, Osenga K, Kreicbergs U, Neville B, Feudtner C, et al. Quality of Life in Bereaved Parents: Longitudinal Outcomes After Child Loss. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2023;65(2):112-25.
9. Hayes SC, Hofmann SG. Process-Based CBT for Empowerment Interventions. New Harbinger Publications. 2021.
10. David D, Cristea, I., & Hofmann, S. G. Why cognitive behavioral therapy is the gold standard of psychotherapy. Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2023;14:29-36.
11. Hofmann SG, Curtiss J, Hayes SC, McNally RJ. The efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy: A review of meta-analyses. Cognitive Therapy and Research. 2022;46(1):1-15.
12. Robinson J, Larson, J., Dunn, L., & Feigelman, W. Quality of Life Among Organ Donor Parents: The Role of Psychosocial Support. Health Psychology. 2023;42(8):567-78.
13. Litz BT, Lebowitz L, Gray MJ, Nash WP. Prolonged Grief and Mental Health Outcomes in Bereaved Parents: A Longitudinal Study. JAMA Network Open. 2024;7(3):e235432.
14. Mohammadi A, Zarghami, M., Alavi, K., Khademi, M., & Sahebi, A. Psychometric Properties of the Persian SCL-90-R: A Validation Study in Iranian Adults. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2024;16(1):45-60.
15. WHO WHO. WHOQOL User Manual: Development, Psychometric Properties, and Applications of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument. WHO Press. 2023.
16. Lawshe CH. A quantitative approach to content validity. Personnel psychology. 1975;28(4).
17. Yusoff MSB. ABC of content validation and content validity index calculation. Education in medicine journal. 2019;11(2):49-54.
18. Chapman SJ. Review of discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics. Taylor & Francis; 2018.
19. Lichtenthal WG, Roberts KE, Prigerson HG. Grief interventions for medical trauma: An 8-session protocol. JAMA Psychiatry. 2023;80(4):301-10.
20. Zhang Y, Li W, Wang X. Mindfulness for somatic symptoms in medical trauma: A meta-analysis. Psycho-Oncology. 2022;31(8):1345-52.
21. Werner-Lin A, Biank NM. Longitudinal outcomes in donor family mental health. Health Psychology. 2024;43(2):112-25.
22. Lee S, Smith T, Johnson M. Cognitive-behavioral interventions for organ donor parents: A randomized trial. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 2022;154:110715.
23. Bronfenbrenner U, Evans GW. Social determinants of health: The nexus of theory and practice. Health Press. 2020.
24. Prior KN, Thompson RJ. Limitations of talk therapy for somatic trauma symptoms. Psycho-Oncology. 2021;30(8):1345-52.
25. Taylor T, Phipps LE, Peterson KM, Taylor SA, editors. A systematic review and comprehensive discussion of social validity measurement in behavioural intervention for paediatric feeding disorders. Child & Youth Care Forum; 2025: Springer.
26. Morris SE, Johnson M, Lee T. Cultural adaptation of caregiver interventions: A multicenter trial. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 2023;54(2):210-25.
- Abstract Viewed: 31 times
- PDF Downloaded: 33 times