OBJECTIVES: To investigate the efficacy of a positive psychological intervention based on the positive emotion, engagement, relationship, meaning, and accomplishment (PERMA) model in reducing the fear of disease progression among parents of children with acute leukemia. METHODS: A quasi-experimental pretest‒post-test design was employed. We recruited parents of children with acute leukemia from a general hospital and divided them into intervention (n=32) and control groups (n=32). The intervention group received an 8-week positive psychological intervention according to the PERMA model. The control group received standard nursing care. The primary outcome was the fear of disease progression. Secondary outcomes included positive psychological capital, coping ability, and subjective well-being. All the measures were completed at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and at 1-month follow-up. RESULTS: Fear of parental disease progression scores were significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group (P < .05). Additionally, the scores for positive psychological capital, coping ability, and subjective well-being significantly increased (P < .05). CONCLUSION: This study confirmed that positive psychological intervention based on the PERMA model can reduce the fear of disease progression and enhance the psychological capital, subjective well-being, and coping ability of parents of children with acute leukemia. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: The study offers a new perspective for clinical psychological nursing, enabling healthcare providers to implement targeted interventions to alleviate psychological symptoms in parents of children with acute leukemia. REGISTRATION NUMBER: ChiCTR2500109477.
Li et al. (Sun,) studied this question.