The Effectiveness of Group Training of Concepts of Choice Theory on Cognitive Emotional Regulation Strategies and Social Adjustment in HIV-Positive Prisoners

HIV infection is a new social phenomenon that affects almost all aspects of a person’s mental, physical, social and economic health in life. One of the problems with HIV-positive prisoners is the low level of emotional regulation and low social adjustment that leads to their low quality of life. Research also shows that group training in the concepts of choice theory has been effective in many psychological problems of HIV patients.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of group training program of concepts of choice theory on cognitive emotion regulation strategies and social adjustment in HIV-positive prisoners.

This study was a quasi-experimental study of four groups of Solomon in which a combination of pre-test-post-test designs with control group and post-test design with control group was used. For this purpose, among the HIV-positive prisoners of Shiraz Central Prison in 1399, 60 people were selected by available sampling method and were placed equally and randomly in two experimental groups and two control groups (15 people in each group). Experimental groups participated in a group training program on the concepts of choice theory (Glasser, 2012) during 9 sessions of 90 minutes (one session per week), while the control groups did not receive any intervention. Participants were assessed using the Garnefski et al. (2001) Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies Scale and Bell’s Social Adjustment Questionnaire (1961). Data were also analyzed using two-way analysis of variance.

The results showed that group training of choice theory concepts on increasing social adjustment and improving the components of self-blame, reception, rumination, positive refocusing, refocusing on planning, positive re-evaluation, perspective, disastrous and blaming of others have been effective in HIV-positive prisoners (P<0.05).

It seems that group training of concepts of choice theory due to the effect of control techniques, basic needs, general behavior, desirable world, perceptual system, creative behavioral system and responsibility in improving cognitive emotion regulation strategies and social adjustment of HIV-positive prisoners can gain more attention by researchers in more samples and in different cultures.