The Effectiveness of Group Reality Therapy with Islamic Teachings on Reducing Determinism and Depressive Symptoms and Increasing Psychological Well-being in Depressed People

 Depression is one of the most common psychological disorders and a general problem of human life, and is prevalent in almost all countries and cultures. According to the emphasis put in the new research on the use of cultural-religious factors, in the Iranian-Islamic culture, in addition to the scientific principles of Reality Therapy, we can also draw on Islamic teachings to treat depression. For this reason, this research aims to determine the effectiveness of group reality therapy along with Islamic teachings on reducing depression symptoms, deterministic beliefs, and increasing psychological well-being in depressed women.

 This is a quasi-experimental study with a pretest posttest control group design and a 40-day follow-up period. Depressed women referring to Tehran's Nedaye Aramesh-e-Ravan Clinic in the summer of 2021 as the statistical population, out of whom 32 were selected using the purposeful sampling method. Then, they were randomly placed in two experimental and control with 16 participants in each group. To collect data, Becket al.’s Depression Questionnaire and (BDI-II), the scale of "psychological well-being" by Ryff and Keyes, and the scale of "free will and determinism" (FAD) by Paulhas and Margeson were used, and the subjects of the experimental group attended 8 90-minute group reality therapy sessions with Islamic teachings. The data obtained from the research were analyzed by multivariate covariance analysis. In the present study, all ethical considerations were observed and the authors reported no conflict of interests.

 The findings showed that Group Reality Therapy, along with Islamic teachings, has a significant effect on reducing symptoms of depression and determinism and increasing psychological well-being (P<0.05). The amount of this effect according to the relative eta square (effect size) in the follow-up period is as follows: 42% of the changes in free will, 60% of the changes in depression, 26% of the changes in self-acceptance, 30% of the changes in positive relations, 29% of the changes in autonomy and 28% of the changes in environmental mastery in the post-exam phase comes from the difference between the test and control groups.

 The present study showed that Group Reality Therapy along with Islamic teachings can be effective in improving depression symptoms, reducing determinism and increasing psychological well-being in depressed people.