| Background: Giving a healthy birth plays a vital role in a person’s personality development, but giving unhealthy
birth and abortion can increase the risk of a range of mental disorders and psychological harms including reduced
well-being and quality of life. Psychological interventions can reduce the problems of individuals, so the present study
was conducted to evaluate the effect of counseling with hope therapy on psychological well-being (primary outcome) and quality of life (secondary outcome) of women with an experience of abortion.
Method: This randomized controlled trial was conducted in Alzahra and Taleghani educational and medical centers in Tabriz, Iran, on 52 women aged 16 years and above whose pregnancies led to abortion in 2020–21. Participants
were assigned to intervention and control groups using random blocking method. The intervention group received
counseling with hope therapy approach in 8 sessions of 45 min twice a week. The psychological well-being and WHO
Quality of Life (WHOQOL) questionnaires were completed before the intervention and immediately and 4 weeks after
the intervention. Independent t-test and repeated measures ANOVA were used to compare the outcomes in two
groups.
Results: After the intervention based on the repeated measures ANOVA test and by adjusting the baseline score, the
mean total score of psychological well-being in the counseling group was significantly higher than that in the control
group (adjusted mean difference (AMD): 76.76; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 63.81 to 89.70; P < 0.001). Also, the
mean total score of quality of life in the counseling group was significantly higher than in the control group (AMD:
7.93; 95% CI: 6.38 to 9.46; P < 0.001). The mean score of all sub-domains of psychological well-being and quality of life
in the counseling group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: Using hope therapy can improve the psychological well-being and quality of life of women after abortion. However, further clinical trials are required before making a definitive conclusion.
Trial registration: Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT): IRCT20120718010324N60. Date of registration: 17 Dec
2020. Date of first registration: 20 Dec 2020.
Keywords: Hope therapy, Abortion, Psychological well-being, Quality of life |