Comparison of the Effectiveness of Schema Therapy and Integrated Schema Oriented Therapy on Components of Impulsivity in People with Borderline Personality Characteristic

Impulsivity is one of the problems which Individuals with borderline personality characteristics suffered from them. According to this point, the aim of this study was to comparison of the effectiveness of schema therapy and integrated schema oriented therapy on impulsivity and their components among individuals with borderline personality characteristics.

The research method was semi-experimental, and research design was three groups with two stages of pre-test and post-test. In order to carry out the research, from 70 persons with borderline personality characteristics in Isfahan in winter leading to summer of 2018, 45 persons were selected based on criteria of entry and exit and then randomly assigned in two experimental groups and a control group (each group with 15 person). Barratt impulsivity scale was used to measure the dependent variable in the pretest and post-test. The group of integrated schema oriented therapy and schema therapy received 15 sessions of treatment and the control group did not receive any treatment. The data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance and Bonferouni post hoc test using SPSS 21 software.

The results showed that there is a significant difference between the integrated schema oriented therapy and schema therapy and control groups in impulsivity, cognitive impulsivity and motor impulsivity in post-test after controlling for pretest (p<0.001), but there is not a significant difference between integrated schema oriented therapy and schema therapy with control group in non-planning subscale (p>0.05).  Also, there is not a significant difference between integrated schema oriented therapy and schema therapy in impulsivity and their components (p>0.05).

Based on the findings of this study, schema therapy and integrated schema oriented therapy can be effective treatments for reducing impulsivity in individuals with borderline personality characteristics. It is recommended that these two treatments be used for people with borderline personality traits in therapeutic centers.