The Effects of Meta-cognitive Therapy on Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Depression among Patients with Type II Diabetes

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and depression are common among patients with type II diabetes. Type II diabetes is one of the most common chronic conditions, causing various limitations for the patients. Therefore, meta-cognitive therapy can be applied to reduce GAD and depression among these patients. This study aimed to investigate the effects of meta-cognitive therapy on reducing GAD and depression among patients with type II diabetes, referring to healthcare centers of Qarchak, Iran. In this quasi-experimental study, a pre-test, post-test, control-group design was applied. The study population consisted of patients with type II diabetes, referring to healthcare centers of Qarchak in 2015. Overall, 30 patients were selected via simple random sampling and were assigned to experimental and control groups (n=15 per group). The experimental group received 10 sessions of training via meta-cognitive therapy, while the control group did not receive any treatments. The groups completed the Generalized Anxiety Questionnaire (GAQ) and Depression Questionnaire (DQ) for pre-test and post-test assessments. For data analysis, multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was performed, using SPSS version 19. The findings showed a significant difference between the experimental and control groups. In other words, meta-cognitive therapy led to a significant decline in GAD and depression among patients with type II diabetes (P<0.01). The results of this study showed that meta-cognitive therapy could reduce GAD and depression among patients with type II diabetes. Therefore, counselors, clinical psychologists and therapists can apply meta-cognitive therapy as a means to decrease GAD and depression among these patients.