The Effects of Narrative Family Counseling Theory to Reduce Loneliness of Empty Nest Syndrome's Mothers
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Abstract
This quasi-experimental research aimed to: 1) compare the loneliness scores of mothers who received online narrative family counseling across the pre-experimental, post-experimental, and follow-up phases; and 2) compare the loneliness scores between mothers who received online narrative family counseling and those who did not receive counseling across the pre-experimental, post-experimental, and follow-up phases. The sample consisted of 20 mothers experiencing empty nest syndrome who had loneliness scores of 37 or higher. Participants were selected through purposive sampling based on the inclusion criteria and were subsequently randomly assigned by drawing lots to the experimental and control groups, with 10 participants in each group. The research instruments consisted of: 1) the Loneliness Scale for Mothers Experiencing Empty Nest Syndrome developed by the researcher, with an Index of Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) ranging from 0.66 to 1.00 and a reliability coefficient of .861; and 2) an online narrative family counseling program. The experimental group participated in eight sessions of online narrative family counseling, whereas the control group received no counseling and continued their usual daily activities. Data were collected from both groups during the pre-experimental, post-experimental, and follow-up phases. The data were analyzed using a Two-Way Analysis of Variance with Repeated Measures on One Factor, followed by Bonferroni pairwise comparisons.
The results revealed that: 1) the experimental group had significantly lower loneliness scores at the post-experimental phase than at the pre-experimental phase (p < .05); however, no significant difference was found between the follow-up and pre-experimental phases; and 2) the experimental group had significantly lower loneliness scores than the control group at the post-experimental phase (p < .05); however, no significant difference was found between the experimental and control groups at the follow-up phase.
The findings may serve as a guideline for providing counseling services to mothers experiencing empty nest syndrome. Follow-up activities or continued counseling after completion of the program should be considered to promote the maintenance of counseling outcomes over time.
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