Introduction:
Mothers of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) experience high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. Resilience is one of the factors associated with how mothers adapt to stressful situations. Mindfulness exercises have been shown to be an effective intervention for improving mental health and resilience in mothers. However, implementing mindfulness exercises in a hospital environment presents certain challenges. This study aims to investigate the effect of virtual mindfulness exercises on resilience, depression, anxiety, and stress in mothers of children with CHD.
Methods:
This quasi-experimental study, with a control group and no random allocation, will be conducted on 72 mothers of children with CHD who are undergoing open-heart surgery at the Children's Medical Center affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The intervention group will receive eight sessions of virtual mindfulness exercises every other day, while the control group will receive routine care without any new intervention. Data collection tools include a demographic information questionnaire, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and the DASS-21 questionnaire. Data will be collected before the intervention and 15 days later. Collected data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, percentage, and frequency) and inferential parametric or non-parametric tests (including independent t-test, Mann-Whitney, chi-square, Fisher’s exact test, and ANCOVA). A significance level of less than 0.05 will be considered.
Conclusion:
The results of such studies will help identify effective approaches to enhance the mental health of mothers of children with CHD.