EFFECT OF TRAIT ANXIETY AND PATIENT EXPECTATION OF THERAPEUTIC TOUCH ON THE REDUCTION IN STATE ANXIETY IN PREOPERATIVE PATIENTS WHO RECEIVE THERAPEUTIC TOUCH.
Contributors: New York University.
Published: 1993
Number of pages: 142
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: This study was designed to investigate the influence of patients' expectation of therapeutic touch (TT) and trait anxiety (T-anxiety) on the efficacy of TT to reduce state anxiety (S-anxiety) in preoperative patients. The framework of this study was provided by the integration of Spielberger's state-trait anxiety model (Spielberger, 1972; Spielberger & Krasner, 1988) and Hahn's sociocultural model of illness and healing (Hahn, 1985; Hahn & Kleinman, 1983).

Eighty-one preoperative female patients scheduled to undergo breast biopsy or gynecological surgery in an ambulatory surgical unit participated in the study. Three cases were deleted from the multiple regression analysis because they were multivariate outliers. The state and trait version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) designed by Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushenes, Vagg, and Jacobs (1983) was used to measure state and trait anxiety prior to patients receiving TT. The state-STAI was given again after patients received a five minute TT treatment. A version of the Credibility Scale (Borkovec & Nau, 1972) was used to measure patients' expectation of TT prior to receiving TT.

A t-test for paired samples showed a significant decrease in raw pre-TT to post-TT S-anxiety scores $(p = .000).$ Data analysis demonstrated a significant correlation between pre-TT and post-TT S-anxiety, therefore reduction in S-anxiety was measured by calculating a partialled regressed score through a multiple regression technique. Multiple regression analysis showed that T-anxiety independently accounted for 7% of the reduction in S-anxiety. However T-anxiety and the reduction in S-anxiety were negatively correlated and not in the predicted direction. Patients' expectation of TT was not related to the reduction in S-anxiety. Analysis did not show a significant interaction effect between T-anxiety and patients' expectation of TT.

Ancillary analysis demonstrated that type of surgery and the nurse administering TT were not associated with the reduction in S-anxiety.

Three nurses administered TT. To ascertain that the nurses were equally experienced in TT, the nurses completed the Subjective Experience of Therapeutic Touch Scale (SETTS; Winstead-Fry & Krieger, 1987). The SETTS scores ranged from 214 to 225 and compared favorably with the range of scores for experienced nurses reported by Ferguson (1986).
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-05, Section: B, page: 1808.

Thesis (PH.D.)--NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, 1993.

School code: 0146.