Sloman, R. (2002). Relaxation and imagery for anxiety and depression control in community patients with advanced cancer. Cancer Nursing, 25, 432–435.
To determine the efficacy of relaxation and imagery for control of depression and anxiety
Patients were assigned to one of four treatment conditions:
A trained nurse taught patients the techniques in their homes, left a tape recorder and cassette, and asked subjects to practice the technique(s) twice daily. The nurse visited twice weekly to repeat the sessions.
In the control group, the nurse spent an equal amount of time with subjects, discussing general health and treatment concerns.
Investigators conducted pretesting. Post-testing occurred, for all subjects, three weeks after the initial session.
The sample was composed of 26 men and 30 women. All participants had advanced cancer and were receiving palliative care.
All three treatment groups showed significant reduction in depression, compared to the control group. No one treatment proved to be significantly superior, and none of the three treatments produced a significant reduction in anxiety.