Progressive Muscle Relaxation and guided imagery as techniques to enhance the way of coping of parents of children with malignancies: Findings from a randomized controlled trial

Purpose The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of relaxation techniques in altering the coping strategies that were employed by the parents of children with malignancy on active treatment. Methods It was a randomized non-blinded controlled trial, including pre - and post assessments, comparing a 3-week relaxation intervention with the standard psychological care. Participants were recruited consecutively from two Public Pediatric Oncology - Hematology Departments in Cyprus and Greece. Fifty four parents of children hospitalized with a malignancy, were randomly assigned either to the intervention group (n = 29), receiving the Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) and Guided Imagery (GI) Relaxation Techniques or to the control group (n = 25) receiving only the Standard Psychological Care by nurses and psychologists. Data were collected with the Questionnaire of 'Ways of Coping Checklist' (WofCC). Results The results showed that the intervention did not have an impact on the coping strategies that parents employed as these are reflected on the WofCC' factors. The results showed that parents in both intervention and control group prefer using positive ways of coping in stressful situations: positive approach, positive re-evaluation and prayer/daydreaming. Conclusions The findings did not support the utilization of PMR and GI as coping strategies altering interventions in this clinical context. However, these findings should be interpreted in light of the short duration of the intervention that under these specific circumstances might have required a more lengthy approach for coping strategies to be altered. Furthermore, the stress relieving properties of these interventions could fortify (although not altering) existing coping strategies.