The Tapping Evidence Base
Anxiety · Burnout & Work Stress

The effect of emotional freedom techniques (EFT) on anxiety and caregiver burden of family caregivers of patients with heart failure: A quasi-experimental study

Marzban, A., Akbari, M., Moradi, M., Fanian, N. · Journal of Education and Health Promotion · 2024

Controlled trial 👥 91 participants ⚖️ vs. no training (non-randomized control) 📈 Cohen's -1.62 (large) Moderate rigor ✓ Source-checked 📍 Iran
In plain English. Ninety-one family members caring for a relative with heart failure — a role that's often exhausting and anxiety-inducing — either learned tapping over six sessions or received no training. The group that learned tapping reported feeling noticeably less anxious and less burdened by their caregiving role than the group that didn't. Participants weren't randomly assigned to groups, so it's a solid but not gold-standard trial design.

What they found

Cohen's = -1.62
a large effect · on caregiver burden (Caregiver Burden Inventory, higher=worse), EFT vs control (bet
small moderate large
0 0.5 0.8 2.5
Ninety-one family members caring for a relative with heart failure — a role that's often exhausting and anxiety-inducing — either learned tapping over six…

91 family caregivers of heart-failure patients were assigned to a 6-session EFT training group (n=46) or a no-training control group (n=45); the EFT group had significant reductions in both anxiety (p<0.001) and caregiver burden (p<0.001) compared to control.

How the study worked

Who took part family caregivers of patients with heart failure (n=91)
What they did In a controlled trial, a tapping group was compared against a separate comparison group.
Compared with no training (non-randomized control)
Measured with Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI)

💡 Where this could help

If findings like these hold up in larger trials, the promise is simple: a low-cost, self-administered tool that could reach people struggling with anxiety who can't easily access traditional care — at home, between appointments, or where there aren't enough clinicians to go around.

🔬 What to study next

The natural next step: longer-term follow-up to see how durable the benefit is, and an active ('sham tapping') control to isolate what's doing the work.

The full record

DesignControlled trial
Participants91 people
Populationfamily caregivers of patients with heart failure
Comparison groupno training (non-randomized control)
Effect sizeCohen's d = -1.62 — on caregiver burden (Caregiver Burden Inventory, higher=worse), EFT vs control (between-group), post-intervention; EFT lower. Paper-reported d=1.623 (recomputed 1.624), from Table 3 (EFT 38.77±5.66 n=46 vs control 50.48±8.51 n=45, p<0.001)
Outcome measuresZung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI)
JournalJournal of Education and Health Promotion
Year2024
CountryIran
LanguageEnglish
MethodEFT / Tapping
Publication typeStudy / trial
Verification✓ Confirmed against the primary source

Read the original study →

Cite this study

APA

Marzban, A., Akbari, M., Moradi, M., & Fanian, N. (2024). The effect of emotional freedom techniques (EFT) on anxiety and caregiver burden of family caregivers of patients with heart failure: A quasi-experimental study. Journal of Education and Health Promotion. https://doi.org/10.4103/jehp.jehp_609_23

This record is part of the Tapping Evidence Base — an openly-sourced, fully-referenced directory of the research on EFT/Tapping. Explore more studies on Anxiety · Burnout & Work Stress

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THE TAPPING EVIDENCE BASE Anxiety Cohen's -1.62 large effect WHAT THEY FOUND 91 family caregivers of heart-failurepatients were assigned to a 6-session EFTtraining group (n=46) or a… Controlled trial · 91 participants Marzban · 2024 · evidence.thetappingsolution.com