ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1592591
This article is part of the Research TopicIntegrating Health Psychology in Practice: Enhancing Well-being and Improving Health Outcomes Across Diverse ContextsView all 13 articles
How to improve the well-being of patients in cardiac rehabilitation? A contribution of psychological treatments
Provisionally accepted
Maura Crepaldi1
Elisa Zambetti1*
Fiorella Lanfranchi2Emanuela Zenoni2Irene Bariletti2Francesco Quarenghi2Luigina Viscardi2Ginevra Rizzola2Valentina Regazzoni2Alessandra Bigoni1Francesca Brivio1
Irma Soddu1Massimiliano Anselmi Kaiser1Vittorio Giudici2
Andrea Greco1- 1University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy
- 2ASST di Bergamo Est, Bergamo, Italy
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Introduction: The relationship between psychological factors and cardiovascular disease [CVD] has been extensively studied, with a focus on predictive factors and patients’ responses in the acute and chronic phases. However, less is known about the impact of specific psychological treatments on the psychological status of patients in cardiovascular rehabilitation. Methods: This study compares anxiety, depression and illness perception in patients with different CVD at three-time points: baseline (T0), end of the rehabilitation program (T1), and three months later (T2). One hundred and eighty-onepatients in cardiovascular rehabilitation participated at three psychological treatments: psychoeducational intervention group, progressive muscle relaxation training with Jacobson’s technique and imaginative stabilization techniques, and individual counseling. The study included patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome [ACS], heart failure [HF], or undergoing cardiac surgery [CS], undergoing cardiovascular rehabilitation at XXX between January and August 2023. Levels of anxiety, depression, and illness perception were measured by HADS and Brief-IPQ. Results: Significant differences were observed between T0, T1, and T2 in the three psychological treatments, with individual counseling showing the greatest improvements in anxiety, depression, and illness perception. Discussion: The study shows that individual counselling significantly reduces the levels of depression and anxiety, while promoting a healthier perception of the disease in comparison with the other two psychological treatments offered. This process is critical to improving the psychological well-being of patients, and these results could be useful to better address health care policies.
Keywords: Cardiovascular rehabilitation1, Psychological treatment2, Individual counseling3, Anxiety4, Depression5, Illness perception6
Received: 12 Mar 2025; Accepted: 19 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Crepaldi, Zambetti, Lanfranchi, Zenoni, Bariletti, Quarenghi, Viscardi, Rizzola, Regazzoni, Bigoni, Brivio, Soddu, Anselmi Kaiser, Giudici and Greco. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Elisa Zambetti, University of Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy
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