ARTICLE INFO

Article Type

Original Research

Authors

Masihi   Z. (1)
Homaei   R. (*)






(*) Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran
(1) Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran

Correspondence

Address: Department of Psychology, Pasdaran Boulevard, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran
Phone: -
Fax: -
homaei@iauahvaz.ac.ir

Article History

Received:  February  22, 2019
Accepted:  June 5, 2019
ePublished:  June 15, 2019

BRIEF TEXT


Addiction is a social harm and has devastating consequences in all aspects of society [1]. ... [2-4]. With regard to the harmful effects of addiction on individual, family and social dimensions, the importance of identifying predictive factors and preventing them is essential more and more [5] ... [6].

One of the factors influencing the tendency or persistence of drug addiction is having irrational beliefs. Irrational beliefs are inappropriate solutions that a person uses for his personal problems and prevents a person from successfully encountering problems [7]. ... [8]. Saed et al. [9] compared the irrational beliefs between drug addicts and non-drug users that the results showed that the substance-dependent group had a higher degree of irrational beliefs. Self-concept is one of the factors that is likely to be effective in the continuation of substance abuse. Self-concept is referred to a set of thoughts, feelings and attitudes that everyone develops about himself in the mind [10]. Studies on the self-concept of substance users show that there is a significant relationship between self-concept and substance abuse. So that people who are severely addicted to substance abuse have a low self-concept [11]. One of the effective therapies in reducing irrational beliefs and increasing self-concept in addicts is cognitive-behavioral group therapy (CBT). ... [12-14]. Mami & Amirian in a research entitled "The Effect of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies on the Addicts in Iran" showed that CBT is effective in the treatment of addiction. Alavi Langroudi & Nikzad Moghadam [16], in a research to determine the effectiveness of CBT on reducing symptoms of addiction, showed that it has a significant impact on reducing drug use and preventing relapse. Studies suggest that CBT causes changes in irrational beliefs [17].

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral group therapy on changing irrational beliefs and increasing self-concept of drug abusers in Ahwaz.

This semi-experimental research has a pre-test and post-test design.

This research was conducted among all drug addicted men in Ahvaz city in 2018.

The sample size was determined 30 subjects based on previous research [7, 12] and the research design, who were randomly selected and randomly divided into two experimental (15 subjects) and control (15 subjects) groups. Inclusion criteria included at least one year of drug use history, at least primary education and the age of 25 to 50 and the exclusion criteria were physically and psychologically disorders and medical or psychiatric records.

The Jones irrational beliefs questionnaire (IBT) [18] and Beck Self-Concept Questionnaire were used to collect data. IBT was developed by Jones in 1969 [18]. Jones [18] reported the total validity of the questionnaire by a re-test 0.92 and for each subscale, it was obtained 0.66 to 0.80. Safarinia et al. [20] reported the reliability of this questionnaire 0.74, based on Cronbach's alpha. In this research, reliability of this questionnaire was 0.79 using Cronbach's alpha. Beck Self-Concept Questionnaire was developed by Beck, in 1990, to examine the self-concept of individuals, and other researchers evaluated it in the same year [19]. In this study, the alpha coefficient of 0.82 was obtained that the internal consistency index is satisfactory. The reliability coefficient of the scale with a one-week interval was 0.86 with a 3-month interval obtained 0.65. Other researchers measured the scale in Iran in terms of credibility and validity, and the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.85. The construct validity was also analyzed by performing a test between normal and depressed people and comparing their scores, which was significant in each case. Cronbach's Alpha in this questionnaire was also 0.81 in another study [21]. In this study, the Cronbach's alpha calculated 0.82. The necessary permissions for the research were obtained from the Welfare Organization and the the Ethics Committee of Ahvaz Islamic Azad University. After identifying the recovery centers, eligible individuals were identified according to the inclusion criteria and with willingness to cooperate. Thirty samples were selected and randomly divided into two groups. For ethical considerations, all patients' information remained confidential and after reading the study and obtaining informed consent, the subjects entered the study. The intervention of cognitive-behavioral group therapy was based on collaborative work and with an emphasis on CBT and strategies that helped caregivers to examine their behavior, thoughts, feelings and emotions. It was performed in ten 60-min sessions based on the protocol of Bazjani et al. [22], but the control group received no intervention. To analyze the data, multivariate covariance analysis was used. Data were analyzed using SPSS 21 software.

The mean irrational beliefs index in both experimental and control groups decreased in the post-test compared with the pretest, but the difference between the control and experimental groups was significant in the post-test (P<0.01; F=???). The mean of self-concept index increased in both experimental and control groups in the post-test, compared with the pre-test, but the difference between the control and experimental groups was significant in the post-test (p <0.01, F =???; Table 2).

The results showed that cognitive-behavioral group therapy reduced the irrational beliefs of substance abuse users. This result is in line with the results of the research by Tabatabaichehr et al. [12]. These irrational beliefs can result from cognitive impairment and reduce the choice of appropriate behaviors and strategies. Therefore, CBT can be effective in controlling this cognitive disorder [24]. This finding is consistent with the findings of this study. Consistent with the present study, it was shown that CBT is effective in controlling and managing the components of irrational beliefs in addicted individuals [22]. ...[25]. The results showed that cognitive-behavioral group therapy increased self-concept of substance abusers. This finding is consistent with the findings of the research on the effectiveness of CBT on self-efficacy and self-concept of addicted people. Gharibi Asl et al. [27] also reported the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral group counseling on self-concept and depression in women with breast cancer. Roepke et al. [28] found that dialectical behavioral therapy was effective in increasing the clarity of self-concept in women with borderline personality disorder. Kiani et al. [29] showed that two methods of CBT and interpersonal analysis have a significant effect on the improvement of the symptoms and the self-concept of those who have emotional failure, however the effectiveness and sustainability of analyzing behavior has been greater. … [30].

It is suggested that this treatment be investigated in personality, emotional and other variables.

The lack of follow-up was the main limitation of this study.

Cognitive-behavioral group therapy is effective in reducing irrational beliefs and increasing self-concept of drug abusers.

Authors appreciate all the participants who helped with this research.

None declared.

In this study, the participants were given enough information on the goals and treatment and the consent was received for attending the sessions. This research is approved by Ahvaz Islamic Azad University with ethics code of 10620705952079.

This research is extracted from the master's thesis of the first author and the financial credibility of this research is provided by the authors.

TABLES and CHARTS

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