Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy on Non-Suicidal Self-Injury, Internalized Stigma, Positive Affect, Negative Affect and Mania Symptoms in Bipolar Patients

The objective of the current investigation was to evaluate the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) on non-suicidal self-injury, internalized stigma, positive affect, negative affect, and mania symptoms in bipolar patients. This research was conducted using a semi-experimental design of pre-test, post-test, and follow-up with experimental and control groups. The statistical population of this research included all patients with bipolar disorders who had been referred to Isfahan counseling centers in 2021 and were treated with mood stabilizers. The sample included 24 people (18 females, 6 males) who were selected using available sampling method and were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. The control group was placed on a waiting list, while the experimental group received cognitive-behavioral treatment for 12 sessions of 60 minutes each, one session per week. The research data were collected using Sanson's self-injury scale, King's internalized stigma scale, Watson's positive and negative affect scale, and Young's mania scale. Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (variance analysis with repeated measures) were used to analyze the data. The findings of the research showed that the cognitive-behavioral therapy caused a significant decrease in the mean scores of the post-test and follow-up stages for non-suicidal self-injury (p<0.01, F=46.639, η2=0.679), internalized stigma (p<0.01, F=6.460, η2=0.227), negative affect (p<0.01, F=8.849, η2=0.287), and mania symptoms (p<0.01, F=27.519, η2=0.556) in bipolar patients. Results indicated significant differences between experimental and control groups for non-suicidal self-injury, internalized stigma, negative affect and mania symptoms in the post-test and follow-up stages.