Comparison of the Effectiveness of Group Psychotherapy by Schema Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Symptoms of Antisocial Personality Disorder among Addicts Residing in Treatment Camp

One of the important and effective factors in the outcomes of substance dependence treatment is the high prevalence of simultaneous occurrence and comorbidity of known psychiatric disorders, especially antisocial personality disorder, with substance dependence disorder. Antisocial personality disorder is one of the most prevalent axis 2 mental disorders among individuals with substance addiction. The present research was conducted by the aim of comparing the effectiveness of group psychotherapy by schema therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy approaches on symptoms of antisocial personality disorder among addicts residing in treatment camps.

In the frame of a semi-experimental study conducted by pretest-posttest-follow up with control group design, among the addicts residing in two addiction treatment camps in Gonbad-e-Kavoos city in the first half of 2018, a sample of 30 subjects were selected by purposeful sampling method and, then, they were assigned into two experiment groups and one control group (10 subjects per group) by random assignment method. For gathering the data, the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-III) was used which was completed by the subjects of all the three groups in pretest, posttest, and one-month follow up stages. The first the second experiment groups respectively received schema therapy and the acceptance and commitment therapy in twelve 1.5-hour sessions in groups and with a sequence of one session per week, while the subjects of the control group didn’t receive any intervention until the follow up stage. The research data were analyzed through multivariate analysis of covariance in SPSSv25.

Findings of the research indicated that both therapy interventions were effective on reducing symptoms of antisocial personality disorder in the end of the treatment and after one-month follow up. Also, the effectiveness level of schema therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy was different in the end of the treatment and after one-month follow up. Schema therapy was more effective in reducing symptoms of antisocial personality disorder than acceptance and commitment therapy (P < 0.01).

Results of the present research confirmed the effectiveness of schema therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy approaches on reducing symptoms of antisocial personality disorder. Results highlight the importance of adopting these interventions for psychological symptoms among addicts and providing new perspectives in clinical interventions