Therapeutic potential of a psychosocial intervention in the mental health of women deprived of liberty.
Maria Theresa Veloso Figueiredo de Carvalho, Jaqueline Lemos de Oliveira, Janaína Cristina Pasquini de Almeida and 3 others
PMID 42788571WHAT IT FOUND
A brief nurse-led intervention lowered depression and tension scores in incarcerated women.
However, overall mental disorder symptoms did not improve significantly. The small sample size means this suggests potential rather than proving effectiveness.
Key findings
01Depression and tension scores showed a statistically significant reduction after the intervention, while the overall mental disorder score did not.
02The study was a pilot with a final sample of nine women, lacking a control group, which prevents causal conclusions.
03Improvements in mood may be linked to the prison context or other factors, not solely the intervention.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Very small sample size (nine participants) limits statistical power and generalizability. Pilot design without a control group prevents causal inference. High dropout rate (three of twelve invited did not complete) may introduce selection bias. Short intervention duration (three 20-minute sessions) may be insufficient to impact complex mental health conditions. Changes in outcomes may be influenced by unmeasured factors in the prison environment.
Declared interests
The study was funded by Brazilian government agencies (CAPES and CNPq). No commercial conflicts of interest were declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the significant reduction in depression and tension scores as proof that this nurse-led intervention works for mental health in prisons. The study was a pilot with only nine participants, no control group, and the primary measure of overall mental disorder symptoms did not show significant improvement.