The Effectiveness of Cognitive-Analytical Group Therapy on Experiential Avoidance and Rumination in Students with Major Depressive Disorder

The present study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-analytical group therapy on experiential avoidance and rumination. The research design was based on a semi-experimental with pre-test-post-test approach and control group. 30 undergraduate students of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman were randomly selected as sample after diagnosing with major depressive disorder and clinical interview, 15 of whom were assigned to experimental group and 15 to control group. The experimental group received the cognitive analytical therapy program for eight 90-minute sessions (twice a week); the control group was on the waiting list. Beck Depression Inventory-II, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire–II(Experimental Avoidance Factor) and Ruminative Responses Scale were used in the pretest and posttest for collecting information. Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance(MANCOVA). The results of the study revealed a significant difference between the post-test scores of the experimental and control groups in the experiential avoidance beliefs and rumination variables with controlling the pre-test effect. Since the higher score in the experiential avoidance variable indicates a decrease, the mean of these scores in the intervention group in the post-test phase were significantly lower than that in the control group. Consequently, it can be stated that the use of cognitive-analytical therapy techniques influences the reduction of the experiential avoidance and rumination of students with major depressive disorder.