Effects of support groups on anxiety of family members during critical illness.

A critical illness event may precipitate anxiety and a state of crisis for members of the patient's family. Many stressors produce anxiety, such as an unexpected onset of illness and fragmented support provided in critical care settings. This quasi-experimental study examined the effectiveness of support groups in reducing state anxiety of adult family members during a relative's critical illness. A target sample was used to assign subjects to the treatment groups. The control group (n = 30) received bedside support from nurses and other health professionals during visiting hours or condition reports. Experimental subjects (n = 25) attended a support group to share feelings and experiences in coping with illness. No significant differences were found in prestate or poststate anxiety scores between the two groups, but experimental subjects had a significant reduction in anxiety from premeasures to postmeasures (p less than or equal to 0.01). These findings provide a basis for continued research on the effectiveness of interventions in reducing the anxiety associated with the crisis of critical illness in the family system.