The Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Emotion Self-Regulation and its Components in Patients with Schizophrenia: A Semi-Experimental Study

Abstract

Background: Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has always been used as an effective method to improve emotion regulation and train patients to reduce mental disorders. Therefore, the current research has investigated the effectiveness of CBT on emotion self-regulation and its components in patients with schizophrenia. Methods: This research was a semi-experimental study with an experimental group and a control group. The statistical population of this study included all patients with schizophrenia in Hayat Rehabilitation and Treatment Center for Chronic Mental Patients in 2021 - 2022. Among the above study population, a total of 30 people (n = 15 per group) with confirmed schizophrenia were selected and studied using the convenience sampling method. The experimental group received CBT for eight 60-minute sessions, but the control group received no training. Both groups completed the Self-Regulation Inventory (SRI-25) at the pre-test and post-test stages. The data of this study were analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) using SPSS software version 16. Results: Data analysis showed that after 8 sessions of CBT in the experimental group, the mean scores of emotion regulation and its sub-components significantly increased in the experimental group than in the control group (0.05). Conclusions: Therefore, considering the effectiveness of CBT in improving the emotion self-regulation dimensions, it is advisable to use this training to improve emotion self-regulation in patients with schizophrenia.