Leung Judy, Li Kin-Kit
School of Nursing & Health Studies, Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Healthcare (Basel). 2024 Aug 12;12(16):1604. doi: 10.3390/healthcare12161604.
Depression is one of the most prevalent mental disorders worldwide. This study examined the effect of a spiritual connectivity intervention on individuals with depression in a randomized waitlist-controlled trial. Fifty-seven participants with mild or moderate depressive symptoms were randomly assigned to either the intervention group ( = 28) or the waitlist control group ( = 29). The intervention comprised eight weekly sessions focusing on divine connection, forgiveness and freedom, suffering and transcendence, hope, gratitude, and relapse prevention. The outcome measures included depressive symptoms, anxiety, hope, meaning in life, self-esteem, and social support. Participants completed self-administered questionnaires at baseline (week 0), post-intervention (week 8), and 3-month follow-up (week 20). Repeated-measures ANOVA and one-way ANCOVA were used to compare the within-group and between-group differences in the changes in outcome variables. Participants in the intervention group showed significant improvements in depression, anxiety, spiritual experience, hope, self-esteem, and perceived social support after the intervention. Effect size statistics showed small to large differences (Cohen's , 0.308 to -1.452). Moreover, 85.71% of participants in the intervention group also experienced clinically significant reductions in PHQ-9 scores from baseline to immediate post-intervention. This study highlights the effectiveness of a low-cost, accessible intervention suitable for community implementation by clergy and faith-based organizations.
抑郁症是全球最普遍的精神障碍之一。本研究在一项随机等待名单对照试验中，考察了精神连接干预对抑郁症患者的影响。57名有轻度或中度抑郁症状的参与者被随机分配到干预组（n = 28）或等待名单对照组（n = 29）。干预包括为期八周的课程，重点关注神圣连接、宽恕与自由、苦难与超越、希望、感恩和预防复发。结果测量包括抑郁症状、焦虑、希望、生活意义、自尊和社会支持。参与者在基线（第0周）、干预后（第8周）和3个月随访（第20周）完成了自我管理问卷。采用重复测量方差分析和单因素协方差分析来比较结果变量变化的组内和组间差异。干预组参与者在干预后，抑郁、焦虑、精神体验、希望、自尊和感知社会支持方面有显著改善。效应量统计显示差异为小到中等（科恩d值，0.308至-1.452）。此外，干预组中85.71%的参与者从基线到干预后即刻，PHQ-9评分也有临床显著降低。本研究强调了一种低成本、易获得的干预措施的有效性，该措施适合神职人员和基于信仰的组织在社区实施。
