Comparing the Effectiveness of Schema Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Resilience, Cognitive Regulation of Emotion and Drug Craving in Substance Abusers

Due to the increasing prevalence of addiction, the aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of schema therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy on resilience, cognitive regulation of emotion and drug craving in substance abusers.

This study was a quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest and follow-up with a control group waiting for treatment. Participants of this study were substance abusers referring to specialized clinics for the treatment of substance abuse in Mashhad in 1399. The present quasi-experimental study was conducted on 45 individuals in three groups of schema therapy (15 patients; 20 sessions; 90-minute; once a week), cognitive behavioral therapy (15 patients; 12 sessions; 90-minute; once a week) and control (15 patients). Data were analyzed using the cognitive emotion regulation scale (2001), resilience scale (2003), and the substance abuse scale (1995). Data were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance.

The results showed that schema therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy had a significant effect on resilience, cognitive regulation of emotion and craving for substance use in the two experimental groups, and cognitive behavioral therapy in post-test had a greater effect on resilience and craving for substance use and schema therapy. In addition, schema therapy had a greater effect on the follow-up stage in cognitive regulation of emotion, resilience and craving substance use (P <0.05).

Therefore, both schema therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy methods are effective on research variables in substance abusers. However, schema therapy is more effective in preventing the recurrence of symptoms in a long time.