Evaluation of effectiveness the cognitive processing therapy on reducing anger and hostility in veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder

Anger and hostility among the anxiety abnormalities have a high association with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and can predict its persistence symptoms. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive processing therapy on reducing anger and hostility in veterans with PTSD. The research method was semi experimental (with pre- and post- test) with a control group. Twenty four war veterans with PTSD based on sampling methods were selected and randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The data were collected by checklist-military and the data of anger and hostility subscales were collected by Buss and Perry aggression questionnaire. Subsequently، the sessions of cognitive processing therapy were carried out for the experimental group in 12 sessions of one hour. The multivariate analysis of variance showed that the mean scores of the experimental group compared with the control group was significantly decreased in anger and hostility (P<0. 05). With regard to the negative consequences of anger and hostility in family، social، and occupational relationship in veterans with PTSD، cognitive processing therapy can be used to reduce the symptoms of anger and hostility.