The effectiveness of the revised protocol of trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) on the quality of life and psychological distress in female victims of domestic violence

Domestic violence is one of the social issues as old as a society and, due to its extensive scope of impact, it has always drawn the attention of therapists in terms of treatment and pathology.

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the revised protocol of trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy on psychological distress and the quality of life among female victims of domestic violence.

The present study was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population consisted of female victims of domestic violence, who were referred to the court, health centers, homeless shelters, and counseling centers in Karaj, Alborz province in 2020, of which 40 people were selected using the convenience sampling method and randomly divided into two experimental and control groups. The data collection tools included the Psychological Distress and Quality of Life questionnaire. The subjects in the experimental group received the trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral protocol in eight 90-minute sessions. The data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance and SPSS-20.

The findings indicated that the trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy caused significant differences between the two groups in psychological distress (F=64.87) at the significance level of 0.001, quality of life - mental health (F=121.19) at the level of 0.001, and quality of life - physical health (F=108.27) at the significance level of 0.001.

Based on the research results, it can be concluded that the revised protocol of trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy can reduce psychological distress, and increase the quality of life in female victims of domestic violence. It, as a preventive program, can also be applied in support, health, and treatment centers and increase the efficiency of female victims of domestic violence.