Comparison of the Effectiveness of Schema Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy on Temperament and Character Dimensions and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies in Patients with HIV

There are many social concerns towards HIV disease and people feel irrational fears of infection and modes of virus transmission. These factors might affect the temperament and character dimensions, as well as cognitive emotion regulation strategies. Accordingly, psychological therapies can be used as beneficial tools to identify the disease and to mitigate the related concerns. This study aimed at comparing the effectiveness of Schema Therapy (ST) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) on temperament and character (TC) dimensions and cognitive emotion regulation (CER) strategies in patients with HIV. In terms of methodology, this was an experimental study based on the pretest-posttest and control group. Also, this was applied research in terms of objective. The statistical population comprised all patients with HIV who were under treatment in behavioral disorders clinics of Health Centers in Hamedan, Iran, during 2019-2020. Of them, 45 subjects were chosen by using simple random sampling then were assigned to three groups (n=15), including two intervention groups and one control group. To assess the considered variables, the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) designed by Cloninger (1994), and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) (2001) were used. According to ANCOVA results, ST and DBT affected temperament and character dimensions and there was a significant difference between the two groups. Therefore, although both therapies had effectiveness in surveyed variables, ST had higher effectiveness rather than DBT.