Depressed women

Depression is the most common psychiatric disorder. Its prevalence in women is twice that of men, which seriously affects the mental health of this group. Therefore, it is very important to adopt treatment methods to reduce it. For this reason, the aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy on coping styles and quality of life of depressed women. This research was a semi-experimental method of pre-test and post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of the study was made up of all women who referred to counseling centers in Mashhad city in 2017, who scored higher than 13 in the Beck depression test. 30 of them were selected as a sample by purposive sampling method and then randomly divided into two control and experimental groups (15 people in the experimental group - 15 people in the control group). Beck depression inventory (BDI-II), the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) and World Health Organization quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF) were used to collect data. Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance. The findings showed that there is a significant difference between the two experimental and control groups in the post-test stage in emotional and avoidant coping styles (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference between the two groups in the problem-oriented coping style (P<0.05). Also, the results in the quality of life section show a significant difference between the two groups in the variables of social, psychological, physical and environmental quality of life (P<0.05). As a result, it can be said that cognitive behavioral therapy can be used as an efficient treatment method to reduce emotional and avoidant coping styles in depressed patients in the clinical environment. Also, the use of this treatment method increases the level of quality of life in these patients.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on negative automatic thoughts and negative affect in depressed women. Methods: The design of this study was applied and quasi-experimental, featuring pre-test and post-test stages with two experimental groups and one control group, followed by a two-month follow-up period. The study population included all women diagnosed with depression who visited a private counseling center in Tehran in 2023. A convenience sample of 30 participants was randomly assigned equally to the two experimental groups and one control group. The Watson and Tellegen (1985) Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and the Hollon and Kendall (1980) Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ) were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using SPSS-26 software, applying three-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Bonferroni post hoc tests. Findings: Results indicate significant differences between pre-test and post-test scores for both therapies in terms of negative affect and negative automatic thoughts (p < .01), demonstrating the significant efficacy of both treatment modalities. No significant differences were found between post-test and follow-up scores (p > .05). Analysis using the Bonferroni test shows no significant difference in the efficacy of the two approaches on problem-solving components (p > .05). Conclusion: Based on the findings, it can be concluded that both Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy are effective in reducing negative affect and negative automatic thoughts in depressed women, with no significant difference in the effectiveness of these therapeutic approaches.