The Effect of Mindfulness-Based Breathing Method on Perceived Stress, Salivary Cortisol Levels and Alcohol Craving
Project no. 23023 · Status: Kapanmış (Yayın bekleniyor) · 2021
Summary
<p>It is well known that alcohol abuse has considerably increased the number of deaths in recent years. In the literature, it implies that individuals feeling under a lot of stress tend to consume more alcohol, and that stress can set off cravings during the treatment period of alcohol use disorder, leading to relapse and having a detrimental impact on the treatment. The purpose of this study, applying the developed mindfulness-based breathing method, is to help people manage stress easier and support the treatment of alcohol use disorder. The study was designed to examine 60 males between the ages of 25 and 65 who were admitted to the AMATEM* at Ege University Faculty of Medicine for treatment of alcohol use disorder, free of any mental or chronic illnesses, and who hadn't used drugs in the past three months.To determine the impact of the method on perceived stress, salivary cortisol levels, and alcohol craving in those who completed the Personal Information Form and Cigarette, Alcohol, and Substance Addiction Screening Test and qualified for inclusion in the study, it was designed as a controlled interventional study including the first 30 participants in the control group and the next 30 participants in the intervention group, without applying randomization. In four sessions each, the TAT** test as a placebo was used. However, it was ended up with the participation of 28 individuals due to the limitations of the study. As part of the pre-test/post-test, the perceived stress scale and the Penn alcohol craving scale were administered to the experimental and control groups, and the cortisol levels in the saliva samples were assessed. The participants' data was analysed using Excel for graphics, Python for statistical analysis and hypothesis testing. Descriptive statistics were presented together with frequency tables and graphs. The tests applied for hypothesis testing were Chi-square, Mood’s Median Test, Kruskal-Wallis, Wilcoxon Signed Rank Mann-Whitney U and independet two sample t-test. As a result, it is recommended that the technique be widely applied as a supporting application in alcohol treatment facilities because it is thought to have favourable and statistically significant effects on perceived stress, salivary cortisol levels, and alcohol craving.</p>