Abstract
M.A. (Clinical Psychology)
The purpose of this study was to establish whether a cognitive intervention with patients in an intensive care unit in a general hospital would lead to a decrease in the commonly observed "intensive-care syndrome", which previously led to a deterioration in patients’ condition irrespective of their physiological condition. In order to effect this study an intervention focused at the alleviation of cognitive factors possibly causing the intensive care syndrome was constructed and rendered on audio-tape. An experimental and control group were randomly selected and pre-tests were performed on these groups. After the pre-tests were performed, the cognitive intervention was applied and
post-tests on the same measures were performed. The results were subjected to separate analysis of covariance where baseline levels of the dependent variables were used as covariates. No significant results were found, implying that cognitive factors might not be playing the role they were expected to play, and that organic-physiological factors might play a more important role in the causation of the intensive-care
sydrome. In addition, it was hypothesised that patients used their own "cognitive intervention" in order to alleviate the severity of symptoms observed in the intensive care unit. Further research is suggested in order to determine the relevant factors inherent in such a condition.