Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Dialectical Behavior Therapy based on Emotion Regulation Skills Training on Impulsivity and Cognitive Emotion Regulation in Type 1 Bipolar Patients

Bipolar disorder type 1 is a chronic, debilitating and recurrent disorder that is defined by specific periods of mania and this disorder causes a great deal of intrapersonal and interpersonal disorder. Overall, the present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy based on emotion regulation skills training on impulsivity and how to cognitively regulate emotion in type 1 bipolar patients.

The present study was based on quasi-experimental studies with pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of this study consisted of all male patients admitted to Razi Hospital in Tabriz in 2018. A purposeful sampling method was used to obtain a statistical sample (30 people); Also, to reduce the difference between the groups, the sample was randomly divided into experimental and control groups. In order to obtain the research data, Barthes Impulsivity Questionnaire and Gabreski Emotion Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies were used. To analyze the obtained data, multivariate analysis of covariance with SPSS- 24 statistical software was used.

The results of statistical studies showed that dialectical behavior therapy had a significant effect (p <0.05) on improving impulsivity and cognitive emotion regulation strategies (except blaming others and refocusing on planning, accepting, and adopting other perspectives) of bipolar patients.

The findings indicated that dialectical behavior therapy based on emotion regulation skills training can be used to reduce impulsivity and cognitive emotion regulation in patients with type 1 bipolar disorder in combination with medication.