The Effectiveness of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Early Maladaptive Schemas among Obese Women

Obesity is among significant public health problems globally that is one of the most critical risk factors for physicaland mental diseases. Early maladaptive schemas include psychological components that play essential roles in weight loss among overweight and obese women. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of transcranial direct current stimulation on early maladaptive schemas of women with obesity.

The research method was semi-experimental with pre-test, post-test, and control group. The statistical population of this study consisted of all women with obesity who were referredto psychology clinics in Tehran in 2019. Sixty patients were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly divided into two groups of experimental and control, each including 30 participants. The experimental group received transcranial direct current stimulation intervention in 10 sessions. Before and after the intervention both groups completed the early maladaptive schema questionnaire. Data were analyzed by covariance test using SPSS software version 22.

The mean age of participants inthe experimental group was 32.7 (4.5) and in the control group 33.6 (4.9).The mean (SD) of early maladaptive schemas in the experimental group was 310.3(19.7) in the pre-test, which decreased to 234.1 (18.1) in post-test (P<0.001) and in the follow-up 233.9 (17.4). However, the mean (SD) of the control group in the pre-test was 310.9 (21.8), which reached 310.8 (20.2) in the post-test, which was not statistically significant and was 310.1 (20.8) in the follow-up.

The study showed that direct current electrical stimulation of the cranial wall improved the initial maladaptive schemas of obese women