Reminiscence interviews as stress management interventions for older patients undergoing surgery

Abstract

A standard reminiscence interview and one that focused on successfully met challenges reduced state anxiety and enhanced coping self-efficacy when measured against both attention-placebo and no-intervention control groups in a sample of 104 elderly male patients facing surgery. Age-peer interviewers did not elicit significantly greater overall reductions in state anxiety or increases in coping self-efficacy scores than younger interviewers (nonpeers), but did produce significantly higher coping self-efficacy scores than nonpeers when administering the challenge reminiscence interview.