Online Cognitive Behavioral Groupherapy for Mothers of Babies With Congenital Heart Disease

Introduction: Mothers of babies with congenital heart disease tend to have higher levels of depression, stress and anxiety. Currently, psychological support group technology has been a resource increasingly used by health professionals, with a therapeutic objective as an instrument to promote care. Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a group intervention in improving depression, anxiety and the psychological well-being of mothers of babies with congenital heart disease. Methods: Randomized, parallel clinical trial, in which the factor under study will be online group therapy and the outcome the level of depressive symptoms, anxiety and psychological well-being, assessed using the instruments: BECK-II, BAI and Wellness Scale Ryff's psychological well-being at the beginning and after the intervention. The fellow who will reapply the instruments will be blinded to the groups. Patients will be randomized 1:1, with odd numbers assigned to treatment (online group therapy) and even numbers assigned to controls (no online group therapy). The intervention group will have 8 weekly group consultations, psychoeducational and focused on depression, anxiety and psychological well-being. The sample size was calculated at 36 individuals for each group. Data will be analyzed using the statistical program Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27.0. For comparison between groups, Student's t test or Kruskall-Wallis or Chi-square test will be used. A two-tailed value of p≤ 0.05 will be considered significant. The normality of instrument scores will be evaluated using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Covariance analysis will be performed to assess the influence of initial scores of anxiety, depression and well-being and their changes after intervention. The effect size will also be calculated. Expected results: It is expected to know and describe the population studied with regard to the level of depressive symptoms, anxiety and psychological well-being. In addition to seeking knowledge about the effectiveness of Group Therapy for these variables.