The Effectiveness of Group Dialectical Behavior Therapy on Self- Efficacy to Deal with the Problems in Substance Abuse Disorder

Problems caused by substance abuse among consumers reduce self-efficacy to deal with physical, social and psychological problems. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of dialectical behavioral therapy as a group on the self-efficacy of coping with problems in people referring to residential and semi-residential centers for addiction quitting in Yasuj city.

The present research was a clinical trial study. The statistical population consisted of all drug-dependent patients referring to residential and semi-residential addiction treatment centers in Yasuj city in 2015-2016. 40 patients were selected by available sampling method and randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. The tools used in this study included a self-efficacy questionnaire to deal with the problems of Chesney et al. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy interventions were performed on the experimental group at 8 sessions of one hour and a half once a week, but no interventions were performed on the control group. After the intervention, both experimental (experimental and control) groups were tested. Data were analyzed using SPSS 23 software and statistical tests of covariance analysis.

The mean and deviation of the pre-test score of the self-efficacy test were 80.17 ± 35.80 in the experimental group and 76.70 4 4.64 in the control group. Also, the mean and deviation of the post-test self-efficacy test scores were 12.26 48 26.48 in the experimental group and 77.7 09 4.94 in the control group. The findings indicated that dialectical behavioral therapy, as a group, led to an increase in the self-efficacy of coping with the experimental group compared to the control group (p <0.001).

Dialectical behavioral therapy can increase the effectiveness of coping with the problems of hospitalized patients in addiction treatment centers. Furthermore, mental health professionals can use this treatment as an effective treatment strategy in treating other psychological problems of patients with substance abuse.