The comparison of group behavioral activation with and without familial support effectiveness on anxiety reduction in coronary heart disease

Aim and Anxiety is the most prevalent psychiatric symptom in patients with coronary heart disease. Untreated anxiety will result in adverse outcomes for these patients. This research aimed to compare the effectiveness of group behavioral activation with and without familial support on anxiety reduction in patients with coronary heart disease. Methods and Materials: In a semi-experimental pretest-posttest design with a control group and follow-up، 59 married men with coronary heart disease were selected with convenient sampling. They were randomly assigned into two experimental groups and one control group. The participants completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)، Family Support Questionnaire (FSQ)، and a demographic questionnaire in pretest phase، posttest phase، and follow-up phase. Treatments groups received therapeutic intervention in 7 sessions (once weekly) while the control group did not receive any intervention. All groups were followed for 6 months. The results of repeated measures analysis of variance showed statistically significant differences between the therapeutic effectiveness of group behavioral activation therapy، group behavioral activation therapy with familial support، and the control group in anxiety reduction (P < 0. 001). The effectiveness of group behavioral activation and social support on anxiety in patients with coronary heart disease would be valuable for clinicians and health professionals.