Comparing the Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Schema Therapy on Reducing Depressive Symptoms in Drug Addicts.

Substance abuse is one of the most common and costly health problems in the world today. The present study was conducted with the aim of comparing the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy and schema therapy in reducing depressive symptoms in people with drug abuse.

The research method was semi-experimental with a pre-test, post-test and follow-up plan with a control group. The statistical population of the research included all the people who were suffering from substance abuse and went to government addiction treatment centers in the 5th district of Tehran for the treatment of their addiction within three months (December 2021 to March 2021). 45 subjects were selected and randomly replaced in three equal groups of 15 people. 12 sessions of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy (Frey, 2005) and 15 sessions of schema therapy (Yang, 2003) were performed. Beck's depression questionnaire (1987) was used to collect information.

The results of the research showed that the cognitive-behavioral therapy compared to the control group has created a significant difference in the post-test and follow-up stage in the depression variable (p ≥ 0.01), but the schema therapy intervention in the post-test and follow-up stage in The general variable of depression did not make a significant difference compared to the control group (p≥0.01).

Based on the findings of the research, it can be concluded that cognitive-behavioral therapy was more effective than schema therapy. Therefore, cognitive-behavioral therapy can be a treatment of choice to reduce depression in people with drug abuse.