Psychological Interventions in Cardiovascular Surgery: Clinical Impact on Emotional Recovery and Treatment Outcomes
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Anca Mihaela ANTONIE Department of Psychology, Spiru Haret University, Romania, Psychologist, Cardiovascular Surgery Department, County Clinical Emergency Hospital of Craiova, Romania
Cardiovascular surgery is often accompanied by significant psychological distress, which can adversely affect postoperative recovery. This study investigates the role of psychological interventions in supporting emotional adjustment and enhancing recovery outcomes in patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery. Employing an applied clinical design, adult patients received structured psychological support both pre- and postoperatively and were assessed using validated measures of anxiety, emotional distress, pain perception, and well-being. Central to the assessment protocol is the introduction of a specialised 10-item "Cardiac Anxiety Questionnaire" (CAQ), designed to capture the specific neurophysiological and cognitive concerns of cardiac patients.
The findings indicate that psychological interventions are associated with reduced postoperative anxiety, improved emotional regulation, enhanced coping strategies, and a more favourable recovery trajectory. These results underscore the importance of integrating psychological support into multidisciplinary cardiovascular care. From a psychotherapeutic standpoint, early emotional assessment, facilitated by targeted tools like the CAQ, and structured interventions may foster psychological resilience and contribute to better clinical outcomes.
© The Author(s) 2025. Published by RITHA Publishing. This article is distributed under the terms of the license CC-BY 4.0., which permits any further distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited maintaining attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Article’s history: Received 7th of November, 2025; Revised 27th of November, 2025; Accepted for publication 20th of December, 2025; Available online: 27th of December, 2025; Published as research article in Volume III, Issue 3, 2025.
Antonie, A.M. (2025). Psychological Interventions in Cardiovascular Surgery: Clinical Impact on Emotional Recovery and Treatment Outcomes. Journal of Contemporary Approaches in Psychology and Psychotherapy, Volume III, Issue 3, 65 – 80. https://doi.org/10.57017/jcapp.v3.i3.04
Conflict of Interest Statement: The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Acknowledgement: N/A
Data Availability Statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Due to ethical and confidentiality considerations, raw data are not publicly shared.
Ethical Approval Statement: The present study was conducted in accordance with the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki and relevant national legislation on research involving human subjects. The research protocol, including psychological assessment procedures and intervention design, was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the County Clinical Emergency Hospital of Craiova, Romania. All procedures were carried out in compliance with institutional regulations governing clinical research.
Prior to participation, all patients were fully informed about the purpose, procedures, and potential implications of the study, and written informed consent was obtained from each participant. Participation was voluntary, and patients were informed of their right to withdraw at any stage without any impact on their medical treatment.
All data were anonymised and processed in accordance with applicable data protection regulations (including GDPR). The psychological interventions applied were non-invasive and integrated into standard multidisciplinary care, posing no additional risk to participants.
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