Comparison between effectiveness of dialectical behavioral therapy and emotional schema therapy on pain severity and performance limitation in people who suffering of tension headache

The aim of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of dialectical behavioral therapy and emotional schema therapy on pain severity and performance limitation in people who suffering of tension headache.

 The present study was a quasi- experimental design that conducted in the form of pretest-posttest-2mounths follow up. In this study, 68 patients with chronic tension headache who were refered from pain specific clinic of imam reza hospital (tabriz medical university), and 30th of them with psychiatric recognition of tension headache were selected with purposive sampling method, they were randomly assigned to two experimental groups (15 students per group). The participantes in the two groups completed the Multidimentional Pain Inventury (West Haven- Yale, 1985)  as the pretest, posttest, and 2 months follow-up. Twelve sessions of group emotional schema therapy, and Ten sessions of group Dalectical Behavioral therapy were held for the participants in the experimental groups. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and Repeated measures analysis.

Based on the results of repeated meajure analysis in posttest and follow- up, it was found that both emotional schema therapy, and dialectical behavior therapy were effective on pain severity and performance limitation in patients with chronic tension headache (p=0.001). In addition, Bonferroni post hoc test  results showed that emotional schema therapy had a greater effect on pain severity and performance limitatation than dialectical behavior therapy among people who suffering of tension headache (p=0.001).

training of this therapeutic approach is recommended as an effective interventional method in reducing pain severity and performance limitation in people who suffering of tension headache.