The effects of progressive relaxation and positive imagery on anxiety level and purpose in life of persons with physical disability

• Main Author: Pottanany, Maria Kutty
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1988
• Subjects: Relaxation; People with disabilities > Health and hygiene; People with disabilities > Psychology; Anxiety; Disabilities > Psychological aspects; People with disabilities > Rehabilitation > Psychological aspects; People with disabilities > Mental health; Rest
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/1192
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study sought to determine the effects of progressive relaxation and positive imagery on anxiety level and purpose in life of persons with physical disability. It was hypothesized that there will be a significant differences between pretest-posttest scores on the anxiety level and purpose in life of the subjects undergoing progressive relaxation and positive imagery. Secondly, there will be a significant difference between pretest-posttest scores on the anxiety level and purpose in life of subjects who undergo progressive relaxation only. Finally, there will be a significant difference in the posttest scores on anxiety level and purpose in life between experimental and control groups. Subjects were 19 physically disabled persons from Tahanan Walang Hagdanan, Cainta. They were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The IPAT Anxiety Scale measured the anxiety level and the Purpose in Life Test assessed the purpose in life of the subjects before and after the interventions. Nine subjects in the experimental group underwent 12 sessions of 45 minutes training in progressive relaxation and positive imagery and 10 subjects of the control groups completed the treatment. One-way ANOVA and ANCOVA were employed in the analysis of the data. The findings of this study showed that the subjects who underwent progressive relaxation and positive imagery showed no significant changes in their anxiety level (F = 1.83, p. .05) and purpose in life (F = .04, p .05). Similarly, the subjects who underwent progressive relaxation alone showed no significant changes in their anxiety level (F = .382, p .05) and purpose in life (F = .00069, p .05). However, the difference in the posttest scores between experimental and control groups were significant for anxiety level (F = 13.393, p .05), but not for purpose in life (F .05). On the basis of these findings, it was concluded that progressive relaxation alone or a combination of progressive relaxation and positive imagery for a short time period is inadequate to produce significant changes in the anxiety level or purpose in life of physically disabled persons. It was further concluded that a combination of progressive relaxation and positive imagery is more effective than progressive relaxation alone in reducing the anxiety level of persons with physical loss. Further study is recommended for a longer period of time, employing a combination of progressive relaxation and positive imagery to determine its effects on anxiety level and purpose in life of persons with physical disability.