The Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy on Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety in Women with Chronic Schizophrenia Admitted to Hejazi Hospital in Mashhad

Considering the negative effects of depressive symptoms and anxiety on the course of schizophrenia, it seems that the combination of cognitive-behavioral group therapy with self-care skills can increase the effectiveness of this treatment in reducing the distress of patients with chronic schizophrenia. Therefore, a study was designed and conducted to determine the effect of cognitive-behavioral therapy group of self-care skills on the symptoms of anxiety and depression in women with chronic schizophrenia.

This randomized controlled clinical trial was performed on 30 women with chronic schizophrenia admitted to Hejazi Psychiatric Hospital in Mashhad. The intervention group (n = 15) underwent cognitive-behavioral therapy group of self-care skills during 10 sessions of one and a half hours and the control group (n = 15) received a routine care. The data collection tool was the Hamilton Anxiety and Depression Scale which was completed in three stages. Data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance and independent t-test.

There was a significant decrease between the intervention and control groups in terms of changes in mean anxiety before and after the intervention (P<0.001) but in terms of changes in mean anxiety before and six months after the intervention and changes in mean depression during the stages there was no significant difference (P>0.05).

Cognitive-behavioral group therapy can be effective in reducing anxiety symptoms, but to increase the duration of its effect, the duration of sessions should be increased.