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conferenceseries.com
May 01-03, 2017 Toronto, Canada
17th World Summit on
Positive Psychology, Psychotherapy &
Cognitive Behavioral Sciences
Volume 7, Issue 2 (Suppl) J Psychol Psychother
ISSN: 2161-0487 JPP, an open access journal Positive Psychology 2017
May 01-03, 2017
Is there any association between spirituality, depression and socio-economic status among caregivers of
patients withAlzheimer’s disease?
Roya Samadi1, Naghmeh Mokhber1, Farhad Faridhosseini1, Mehri B Haghighi1 and Shervin Assari2
1Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Iran
2University of Michigan, USA
Statement of the Problem: Patients with Alzheimer’s disease may require persistent care. This may have a large impact on
the caregivers’ quality of life and predisposes them to psychological distress. Spirituality, however, may act as a buffer and
enhance their adaptability with stressful conditions. This study aimed to evaluate the associations between socio-economic
status, spirituality and symptoms of depression in a sample of caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: In this cross-sectional study, 209 outpatients with moderate Alzheimer’s disease
(using DSM-IV criteria and MMSE test) and their caregivers were selected. Patients’ and caregivers’ demographic and socio-
economic data were recorded. The Spiritual Intelligence Questionnaire and Hospital Anxiety-Depression Scale were completed
by caregivers.
Findings: The prevalence of high depressive symptoms was 45%. Economic status of caregivers had relationship with
spirituality, as the poor group hadmore spirituality than the non-poor.There was no association between gender and spirituality
dimensions. High spirituality was correlated with low depressive symptoms.
Conclusion & Significance: Symptoms of depression are highly prevalent in Alzheimer caregivers and are associated with
spirituality. Spirituality itself may be a function of socio-economic status. Spirituality based interventions, particularly among
those with higher socio-economic status maybe a useful strategy to promote mental health and quality of life of caregivers.
More descriptive and interventional studies are required before adding the spiritual counseling to routine helping programs
for caregivers.
J Psychol Psychother 2017, 7:2 (Suppl)
Parameters of physical appearance as an indicator of learned optimism
Vaishali Raj and Sonakshi Ruhela
Amity University, Dubai, UAE
The present study is aimed at the parameters of physical appearance and their relation to Learned Optimism. In physical
appearance, the factors considered for research are facial expression, body language and clothing. Learned optimism
can be described as a conscious effort to enhance positive self- talk to reinforce self -confidence and assure positivity.The
purpose of the study is to investigate a sample of 30 young adults between the ages of 18-35 years currently either employed
or studying in United Arab Emirates-Dubai for understanding their perspectives on parameters of physical appearance and
further their opinions on these being indicators of learned optimism. The methodology for collecting data is focus group
interview, which was further qualitatively analyzed by thematic analysis. The researchers had twohypothesesi.e. (a) Parameters
of Physical appearance are indicators of Learned Optimism (b) Optimism can be imbibed, practiced and learned. The results
clearly indicated that parameters of physical appearance are important resource for demonstrating optimism & that they
share a significant relationship with learned optimism in current times. The research also implies a definite need for training
individuals in optimism through making radical changes in their physical appearance.