Research and Evidence in Science for Development- myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theResearch and Evidence in Science for Human Development. Answer: The aim of the study was to examine and investigate the effects of meditation and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in tinnitus suffers (Sadlier, Stephens, Kennedy, 2008). The nature of the study is wait list control group where there is group of participants those are included in the outcome study assigned in waiting list and gives intervention to the active group undergoing treatment. In this study, patients were selected from the tinnitus clinic in the Welsh Hearing Institute where twenty-five chronic tinnitus sufferers received CBT or meditation with four hour one sessions and the waiting group received after three months in the same way. There were three hypothesis proposed for the study. In the study, they hypothesized that recruitment of skeletal muscle units, physical activity is controlled by pacing strategy within the CNS from psychological and physiological systems based on feedback. The first hypothesis was done regarding the nature and extent of disorder along with complaint behaviour. Apart from psychosocial factors like emotional states, behavioural dispositions and psychosocial factors, cognitive processes also have an effect on the performance, physical function and exhaustion. It was also hypothesized that the two groups would show improvement after the meditation or CBT intervention based on control or active group. The treatment philosophy selected for the paper is Engels biophychosocial approach that takes into account the personality, genetic vulnerability, stress, behaviour, economy and supportive relationships. Based on this approach, it was hypothesized that there are a large number of psychosocial stressors that are associated with the onset or progression of tinnitus in the study. The method used for the study was waiting list control design. Twenty-five consecutive patients suffering from tinnitus were selected who would benefit from CBT or meditation from Welsh Hearing Institute in Cardiff was invited for trail participation. Those patients who did not want reassurance or had treatable cause like otitis media were excluded from the study. The patients were selected who attended the clinic for the first time and felt that audiological or psychological management approach entered the study. The first group was treated with the intervention considered as active group with consultation from audiological physician. The second group is the control group who waited for three months for the treatment and therefore acted as control group. The active group consisted of those patients who were assessed for tinnitus at the time of consultation for the first time and after treatment whereas control or group two with a three month waiting prior to starting of treatment. Statistical comparisons was done where patients were given questionnaire at the four to six month trial to rate their tinnitus in comparison to the post-treatment. The hospital anxiety depression score was also measured pre-therapy and after the treatment. Six measures assessed the tinnitus aspects that included perceived severity as well as tinnitus impact on their mood and life. The measures taken were the Hallam tinnitus questionnaire that measured the subjective severity, hospital anxiety and depression scale to measure depression and anxiety in physically ill patients and Tinnitus visual analogue scale (VAS) to measure the overall tinnitus effect on the life of the patient at present. The satisfaction life scale was used to assess the patients views and perceptions while living with tinnitus, Tinnitus triggers questionnaire to know about the stressors associated with their tinnitus condition during onset or exacerbation of tinnitus. A questionnaire was also sent to the patients during the four to six month intervention month to receive feedback o how they felt after the treatment and provide comparison with options, better, worse or no change. All the four training sessions lasted for 40 minutes and data was analysed through student t-tests and SPSS 11.5. The result regarding the tinnitus questionnaire from the beginning and end of the study in the active group showed that there was highly significant change from beginning to end in the group one. However, there was no change observed in the awaiting group as they were awaiting treatment. There was significant change seen in the six parameters in Hallam questionnaire where there were positive changes except for hearing. In control group, there were no improvements pre-treatment however, there were significant results seen in the post therapy. While measuring the hospital anxiety depression scale, pre-treatment, it was 9.4 and it significantly 7.9 post-treatment for anxiety and 4.8 to 3.9 for depression. Tinnitus visual analogue scale for active group from pre to post treatment showed highly significant changes (p 0.007) and control group there was borderline change as they were awaiting treatment (p 0.053). The satisfaction rates with life questionnaire showed that there were significant changes only in the control group where as there were no significant changes in the active group. There were significant changes seen in two out of five variables satisfied with life (p=0.023), conditions of life excellent (p=0.035) and life as ideal (p=0.053) showed borderline results. The tinnitus trigger questionnaire results showed that in 77% of patients, stressful life events are associated with the exacerbation or onset of tinnitus. The common factors were death or illness in the family and retirement being occupational change. During the follow up between four to six months, the return rate was 60%. Eighty percent of the patients (12) were feeling much better after the post-treatment and t here was no change in 20% of the participants. Between four to six months, there was a significant improvement in 12 patients seven were experiencing significant improvements, three participants maintained the improvement and two cases of worsened condition. The study findings supported the hypothesis that psychosocial stressors are associated with the onset or exacerbation of tinnitus like lifestyle, stress, social and behaviour factors, supportive relationships like family and well-being. A number of patients reported psychosocial stressors being associated with tinnitus among the participants. The aim of the study was to evaluate effectiveness of CBT and meditation in the treatment of tinnitus. The main findings showed significant results showing improvement in the tinnitus sufferers. There was successful tinnitus management and reduction in experiences of suffering with heightened awareness. Although, this study has certain limitations, it is still effective in treating tinnitus and reduced their illness sufferings. The validity concept in research is to evaluate that whether the test is valid or not and it measured what they have claimed to measure (Diehl, Wahl, Freund, 2017). The participants were chosen that fulfilled the aim of the study like the tinnitus patients who came to the clinic for the first time and monitored from four to six months during the treatment trial. Internal validity is the measure of how well the research study has been conducted that avoided confounding and possible independent variables (Shono, Ames, Stacy, 2016). There is proper evidence that claimed their results. The sample size was manipulated, divided into two groups, control and active group in the research study as the tinnitus variables showed significant results to reduce the potential threats. The experimental treatment like CBT and meditation made a difference to the outcome that is it helped in the reduction of suffering in tinnitus patients. In both the active and control groups, the tinnitus variables as well as the coping mechanisms and psychological response can lead to amplification or dampening of the perpetuating tinnitus variables, therefore to avoid potential threats in the research study, the treatment methods were aimed at relieving the suffering, stress that is caused due to the tinnitus. The tinnitus variables that were proposed for the active and control group showed significant results before and after the treatment interventions except for the tinnitus effect on hearing. As the control group was waiting for the treatment, there was no significant changes pre-treatment, however showed significant results post-therapy apart from the relaxation strategy. External validity deals with the extent to which the research results can be generalized to the people or other situations (Halperin, Pyne, Martin, 2015). In other words, the external validity is the extent to which there is a generalisation and causal inference in the research study. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of CBT and meditation on the tinnitus sufferers. The main findings showed compliance with the aim and hypothesis of the result where CBT and meditation is effective in the treatment of chronic tinnitus to relieve them from their sufferings. This psychosocial intervention is medically proved to relieve patients suffering from medically unexplained symptoms. The restriction of the sample size through waiting list control design had a significant effect on the research study. The sample size was small and therefore, it acted as a preliminary study. To reduce the threat to validity, the authors had reduced the sample size, which was not correct and so cause and effect relationship with causal inference and worth of understanding would have been used to get better outcomes (Csikszentmihalyi Larson, 2014). The consecutive basis of selection of the patient was a limitation of the study as the external validity would have been limited as the patients represented the tertiary referrals. This may not be applicable to other tinnitus patient sufferers. It is evident that tinnitus is a common experience and not every patient requires treatment for it. The research study sample comprised of patients who are distressed in tinnitus and so it does not reflect general trends and pose problems due to waiting list control method for specific therapist co nsultation. References Csikszentmihalyi, M., Larson, R. (2014). Validity and reliability of the experience-sampling method. In Flow and the foundations of positive psychology. Springer Netherlands, 35-54. Diehl, M., Wahl, H. W., Freund, A. (2017). Ecological Validity as a Key Feature of External Validity in Research on Human Development. Research in Human Development, 177-181. Halperin, I., Pyne, D. B., Martin, D. T. (2015). Threats to internal validity in exercise science: a review of overlooked confounding variables. International journal of sports physiology and performance, 823-829. Sadlier, M., Stephens, S. D., Kennedy, V. (2008). Tinnitus rehabilitation: a mindfulness meditation cognitive behavioural therapy approach. The Journal of Laryngology Otology, 31-37. Shono, Y., Ames, S. L., Stacy, A. W. (2016). Evaluation of internal validity using modern test theory: Application to word association. Psychological assessment, 194.