Comparing the Effectiveness of Group Therapy with Cognitive-Behavioral and Psychodrama Approaches on Reducing the Symptoms of Depression and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in 30-40 Years Old Women with These Disorders

Due to the current stressful world, studying mental disorders has become especially important. Among these disorders, depression and obsessive–compulsive disorder have a long history. They have always been considered throughout psychology due to their adverse consequences and high prevalence. Feelings of loneliness, depression, and work pressure during this period often cause more emotional crises in their lives. Research shows that approximately 22% of people between the ages of 35 and 44 suffer from depression because they are dissatisfied with their relationship with their spouses and other family members. Of course, communication problems, long working hours, and the pressure of housework are also factors that harm this condition. Different theories have been proposed to explain the causes of depression and obsessive–compulsive disorder. These two disorders have been examined from various perspectives such as biological, psychoanalytical, cognitive–behavioral, systemic theories and newer psychotherapies such as psychomanagement. Accordingly, different treatment approaches have been suggested for them. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of group therapy with the cognitive–behavioral and psychodrama approach on reducing depressive symptoms and obsessive–compulsive disorder among women aged 40–30 years.

The research method was quasi–experimental with a pretest–posttest design with a control group. The statistical population in this study included all women with depression and obsessive–compulsive disorder who were referred to counseling clinics in Tehran City, Iran, in 2019. Of whom, 36 qualified women volunteers were selected and randomly divided into three groups of cognitive–behavioral therapy, psychodrama, and control group. The inclusion criteria include the ability to communicate with other members of the group, being interested in participating in the research, and the ability to coordinate the class schedule with the meeting schedule. The exclusion criteria were inability to communicate in the group, having a mental or physical disorder affecting the skills training process, and attending psychotherapy sessions or counseling elsewhere. The group therapy with the cognitive–behavioral and psychodrama approach was held in 12 90–min sessions, once per week for three months. The study data were collected by the Depression Inventory (Beck et al., 1961) and the Yale–Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Goodman et al., 1989). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation) and inferential statistics (univariate analysis of covariance and Tukey's post hoc test) in SPSS version 22. The significance level of the tests was considered 0.05.

The results showed that the average scores of depression and obsessive–compulsive disorders in the posttest stage after controlling the pretest scores in the two experimental groups were significantly different from the control group (p<0.001). Also, the difference in mean scores between the two groups of psychodrama and cognitive–behavioral therapy in depression (p=0.033) and obsessive–compulsive disorder (p=0.044) were significantly different. So psychodrama therapy was more effective in reducing depression and cognitive–behavioral therapy was more effective in reducing obsessive–compulsive disorder.

Based on the findings of this study, both cognitive–behavioral therapy and psychodrama therapy are effective in reducing the symptoms of depression and obsessive–compulsive disorder in women suffering from depression and obsessive–compulsive disorder. However, psychodrama therapy is more effective in reducing depression symptoms, and cognitive–behavioral group therapy is more effective in reducing obsessive–compulsive disorder.