Measuring the Effectiveness of Group Spirituality Therapy on Sleep Quality and Mental Toughness in Elderly Subjects in Khorramabad

Abstract

Introduction: In recent years, the issues of decreased sleep quality and lower mental toughness among older individuals have received significant attention. Spirituality therapy has emerged as a possible intervention to overcome these problems, with researchers showing increased interest in the topic. Therefore, this paper aims to examine how group spirituality therapy affects sleep quality and mental toughness in older individuals in the City of Khorramabad. Method: This study follows a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population includes all senior citizens residing in retirement homes in the City of Khorramabad in 2017. A convenience sample of 30 individuals was drawn and randomly assigned to two groups of experiment and control (15 people in either group). The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (1989) and the MTQ48 (2002) were administered to both groups as pre-test and post-test. The experiment group received eight hour-long group spirituality therapy training sessions. The collected data were then analyzed using MANCOVA and ANCOVA in SPSS 23.0. Results: Analysis of covariance revealed that spirituality therapy has a significant positive impact on both the quality of sleep and mental toughness among older individuals (P = 0.001). Conclusions: Given the fact that group spirituality therapy was found to improve sleep quality and mental toughness, this approach is recommended as an effective intervention to resolve psychological issues among the elderly, especially those pertaining to quality of sleep and mental toughness.