Effects of an Emotional Education Program on Prisoners: An Experimental Study

ABSTRACT Background Emotional education has beneficial effects on physical and/or emotional health, resulting in a better quality of life. Thus, it is beneficial to provide prisoners with emotional education, because of the difficulties they often have, to attain these benefits. Purpose The aim of the study was to analyze the effects of a nursing intervention program in emotional education for incarcerated persons. Methods Experimental study with pretest–posttest repeated measures with a control group was conducted at a penitentiary center in the southeast of Spain. Forty-eight prisoners participated in the emotional education intervention program, and another 48 were part of the control group. The emotional intelligence questionnaire 24-item Trait Meta-Mood Scale, the resilience scale Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Rathus Assertiveness Questionnaire, and the 36-item Short Form Health Survey were utilized. Findings The intragroup, preintervention and postintervention comparisons in the study group showed improvements in self-esteem (p = 0.00, r = 0.51), resilience (p = 0.00, r = 0.42), assertiveness (p = 0.00, r = 0.46), and emotional intelligence in its dimensions of repair (p = 0.00, r = 0.32) and clarity (p = 0.02, r = 0.22) as well as in most of the quality of life dimensions. Significant intergroup differences were also found in all of these variables, except for attention and emotional clarity dimensions. Conclusion The intervention improved the socioemotional health and quality of life of the prisoners, highlighting the importance of these interventions to be performed by the nursing personnel on a regular basis as a programmed activity within prisons.