Effect of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy on Depression in Students with Emotional Breakdown at Dezful University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Morale, strong self-esteem, and avoidance of depression play a pivotal role in the quality of life and success of students. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of cognitive-behavioral therapy on depression in students with emotional breakdown.

This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The sample population consisted of all the male university students attending the counseling office, who had experienced emotional failure. In total, 20 students were selected via convenience sampling and randomly divided into two groups of intervention and control (10 per each). Data were collected using the BDI-II depression inventory and cognitive-therapeutic protocol. Data analysis was performed in SPPS version 18.

No significant differences were observed between the intervention and control groups in terms of the demographic variables (P>0.05). However, the mean score of depression had a significant difference between the groups before and after the intervention (P<0.05).

According to the results, cognitive-behavioral therapy could effectively help the students with emotional failure (suffering from love) and had a significant effect on the treatment of depression in these students.