The Effectiveness of Virtual Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy on Anxiety Sensitivity and Emotional Regulation during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of virtual cognitive-behavioral group therapy on anxiety sensitivity and emotional regulation in individuals referred to Esmatiyeh Health Care Center of Kashmar city during the Covid-19 pandemic. The design of this semi-experimental research was pre-test-post-test with a control group. The statistical population of the study included all people who referred to Esmatiyeh Health Care Center of Kashmar city in 2020. From this statistical population, 150 people were selected as a sample by the voluntary and convenience sampling method. They were then asked to complete the questionnaires of anxiety sensitivity and emotional regulation (pre-test). From among those who met the inclusion criteria (willingness to participate in research, obtaining the criterion scores in questionnaires, not suffering from acute mental and physical illness, having access to virtual networks), 60 people were selected as a sample by random sampling method and were randomly assigned in experimental and control groups (30 people in each group). The experimental group received virtual cognitive-behavioral therapy group for 12 sessions and the control group did not receive any intervention. In the end, both groups were asked again to complete the research measures (post-test). Multivariate Analysis of Covariance was used to analyze the data. The results showed that there were significant differences between the scores of the experimental and control groups in the scales of anxiety sensitivity and emotion regulation in the post-test phase (p <0.05). Based on the findings of this research, it is concluded that virtual cognitive-behavioral group therapy is a beneficial intervention in reducing anxiety sensitivity and increasing emotional regulation of people during the Covid-19 pandemic.