Guided Imagery for Stress and Symptom Management in Pregnant African American Women

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a guided imagery (GI) intervention for stress reduction in pregnant African American women beginning early in the second trimester. This prospective longitudinal study of 72 women used a randomized controlled experimental design with two groups conducted over 12 weeks. The intervention was a CD with 4 professionally recorded tracts designed and sequenced to influence study variables. Participants in both GI and usual care (UC) completed measures and donated 5 cc of blood at baseline, 8 weeks and 12 weeks. Participants also completed a daily stress scale. A mixed-effects linear model tested for differences between groups for self-reported measures of stress, anxiety, and fatigue as well as corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH), a biologic marker of stress. Significant differences in perceived stress daily scores and at week 8 but not week 12 were found in the GI group compared to UC group. The GI group reported significantly less fatigue and anxiety than the UC group at week 8 but not week 12. There were no significant differences in CRH levels between groups. Results suggest that GI intervention may be effective in reducing perceived stress, anxiety, and fatigue measures among pregnant African American women.

Systematic review and meta‐analysis of non‐pharmacological interventions to reduce the symptoms of mild to moderate anxiety in pregnant women

“… relaxation (Bastani et al., ; Chang et al., ; Teixeira et al., ; Tragea, Chrousos, Alexopoulos, & Darviri, ; Ventura, Gomes, & Carreira, ) guided imagery (Jallo, Ruiz, Elswick, & French, ; Korol & Von Baeyer, ; Urech et al., ) mindfulness (Guardino et al., ; Vieten & Astin, ; Woolhouse et al., ) yoga (Davis et al., ; Newham et al., ; Satyapriya et al., ). …”

“…Some authors described the theoretical basis for CBT interventions (Bittner et al., ; Milgrom et al., ), psychological support/CBA interventions (Brugha et al., ; Côté‐Arsenault et al., ) and mind‐body interventions such as acupressure (Bastani, ), mindfulness (Guardino et al., ; Vieten & Astin, ; Woolhouse et al., ), guided imagery (Jallo et al., ), yoga (Newham et al., ; Satyapriya et al., ) and relaxation (Bastani et al., , Chang et al., ; Teixeira et al., ; Tragea et al., ; Urech et al., ; Ventura et al., ).…”

“… Educational intervention for women with a high BMI (Bogaerts et al., ), 87% ( N = 205) agreed Supportive intervention for pregnant women who had previously experienced pregnancy loss (Côté‐Arsenault et al., ), 89% ( N = 24) agreed. Guided imagery intervention for pregnant African American women (Jallo et al., ), 97% ( N = 72) agreed. Mindfulness intervention for women with high pregnancy anxiety scores on the PRA and PSA scales (Guardino et al., ), 94% ( N = 50) agreed. …”

“…All other studies which reported the timing of outcome assessments ( N = 15) collected postintervention outcome data in the third trimester of pregnancy. Mid‐point data collection were collected in six studies (Bogaerts et al., ; Davis et al., ; Dodd et al., ; Jallo et al., ; Knight et al., ; Snaith et al., ). Data collection continued into the postnatal period in seven studies (Bittner et al., ; Bogaerts et al., ; Bullock et al., ; Dodd et al., ; Milgrom et al., ; Snaith et al., ; Vieten & Astin, ).…”

Psychometric Evaluation of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Fatigue-Short Form Across Diverse Populations

“…Detailed information on the design and methods of four of the studies can be found in the original reports (Ameringer et al, 2014; Jallo, Ruiz, Elswick, & French, 2014; Menzies et al, 2014; Robins et al, 2015). One study examined fatigue in fibromyalgia (FMS) (Menzies et al, 2014), another in sickle cell disease (SCD) (Ameringer et al, 2014), a third in cardiometabolic risk (CMR) (Robins et al, 2015), and a fourth in pregnancy (Jallo et al, 2014). In the fifth study, fatigue was examined in healthy controls and women with breast cancer; here, data from the healthy control subsample were used to examine known groups validity only.…”