Effect of Guided Imagery on Increasing the Psychological Well-Being of Pregnant Teenagers Carlie Bohrman,OTS, Karla Ausderau, PhD, OTR/L Occupational Therapy Program, Department of Kinesiology University of Wisconsin – Madison Introduction Design: Quasi-experimental 1 group pretest-posttest within subjects design Participants: Pregnant adolescents from a local school program years old (M = 16.5) 17 of 22 participants completed all 4 GI listening sessions within 4 to 6 weeks Measure: Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being (RPWB) Consists of six 9-item scales of psychological well-being constructed to measure specific dimensions Data Analysis Paired samples t-test compared mean scores between participants’ pre and post intervention measures on the RPWB Results Research Design and Methods Conclusion Implications for Practice Acknowledgements In 2011, the teenage birth rate for ages 15 to 19 years old in the United States was 31.3 births per 1000 girls 1 Pregnant adolescents have an increased risk for low self- esteem, depression, and socioeconomic struggles 2, 3 Guided Imagery (GI) uses a calming voice and sounds such as background music to focus and direct the mind GI can positively impact pregnancy and childbirth experiences 4 Purpose: To determine the effectiveness of guided imagery on the well-being of pregnant adolescents Hypothesis: The well-being of pregnant adolescents will improve following guided imagery sessions, as compared to before guided imagery sessions Four guided imagery sessions did not alter well-being scores on average for pregnant adolescents as measured by the RPWB Personal Growth and Positive Relations with Others were significantly stable over time RPWB may not be sensitive enough to assess change in participants’ well-being during the brief intervention protocol Program supports may have already been influencing the well-being of participants A stronger research design may be necessary with a bigger sample size or an increase in intervention intensity A direct effect was not seen but there may be other indirect effects that were related to well-being such as reduced stress A special thank you to my research mentors, Dr. Karla Ausderau and Dr. Martha McCurdy for their assistance and guidance. A big thank you to the students and staff of SAPAR, Dr. Mary Schneider, and my student research team: Lindsay Brooks, Brittney Jones, and Leanna Linzell. This project was funded by the Gertrude E. Gaston Fund Pre and Post Test Well-Being Scores after Guided Imagery Pearson Product Moment Correlations : Descriptive Statistics and t-test Results for Well-Being on the RPWB No significant increase in RPWB total posttest scores No significant differences were noted between pretest and posttest scores in the dimensions There was a high level of variability among participants for total scores on the RPWB Personal growth and Positive Relations were stable over time Purpose in Life approached significance Guided imagery is a safe intervention to use with the population of pregnant women Occupational therapists can integrate the use of GI techniques into their clients’ daily routines and rituals to reduce stress and promote wellness Although the short term intervention of GI did not significantly improve well-being for pregnant adolescents, occupational therapists can still educate and encourage healthy lifestyle choices that can positively impact well-being through other means 1.Hamilton, B. E., Hoyert, D.L., Martin, J.A., Strobino D.M., & Guyer, B. (2013). Annual summary of vital statistics: Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, 131(3), doi: /peds Hudson, D., Elek, S., & Cambell-Grossman C. (2000). Depression, self-esteem, loneliness, and social support among adolescent mothers participating in the new parents project. Adolescence, 35(139), Cox, J., Buman, M., Valenzuela J., Pierre, J., Mitchell, A., & Woods E. (2008). Depression, parenting attributes and social support among teen mothers attending a teen tot program. Journal of Pediatric Adolescent Gynecology, 21(5), Naparstek, B. (2007). Guided imagery: A best practice for pregnancy and childbirth. International Journal of Childbirth Education, 22(3), 4-8. References (N=17) Pre and Posttest RPWB Scores Before GI After GI 95% CI for Mean Difference M SD tSig Autonomy , , , , , , ,12.71 Environmental mastery Personal growth Positive relations with others Purpose in life Self-acceptance Total CorrelationSig Autonomy Environmental mastery Personal growth.68*.003 Positive relations with others.72*.001 Purpose in life Self-acceptance Total For Total: *p <.05 For Dimensions: *p <.008