ARTICLE INFO

Article Type

Descriptive & Survey Study

Authors

Bagooli   H. (*1)
Zare   M.M. (1)
Kazemi   S.A. (1)
Javidi   H.A. (1)






(*1) Psychology Department, Marvdasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht , Iran

Correspondence

Address: Educational Science & Psychology Faculty, Ostad Bahman Beigi Street, Ashura Square, Marvdasht, Fars, Iran. Postal Code: 7371113119
Phone: +98 (71) 43112207
Fax: +98 (71) 43112201
bhossein@gmail.com

Article History

Received:  October  8, 2018
Accepted:  March 10, 2020
ePublished:  March 17, 2020

BRIEF TEXT


War veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have difficulty with emotional regulation strategies. The model of emotional schemas as a transdiagnostic construct recently played a major role in studies on mental illnesses.

… [1-10]. PTSD is usually accompanied by other disorders, but over time, depression and substance abuse are associated with PTSD as major disorders affecting the patient. On the one hand, the patient becomes depressed and anxious due to lack of treatment, and on the other hand, he tries to illuminate them with inappropriate methods, such as substance abuse [11]. … [12-13]. According to Barlow, anxiety, and depression disorders are common in terms of cognitive and psychological damage, as well as mediating mechanisms. Anxiety is the first reaction to a stressful situation, and depression occurs after frustration with coping with difficult life events.

The aim of this study was to compare the emotional schemes in war veterans suffering PTSD with depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and without signs of depression and anxiety.

This research was a descriptive study.

This research was conducted on 105 war veterans with PTSD who referred to counseling centers of the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs of Shiraz and Bavanat cities.

The samples were selected by purposive sampling method and divided into three groups (n=35 per group) of veterans suffering from PTSD with depression symptoms, veterans with PTSD with anxiety symptoms, and veterans with PTSD without symptoms of anxiety and depression.

The research tools were Structured Clinical Interview (SCID-5), Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, the Iranian version of Leahy's Emotional Schema Questionnaire, and the military version of the PTSD Checklist (PCL). Data were analyzed by SPSS 22 software using univariate analysis of variance and LSD post-hoc test.

All three groups were relatively homogeneous in terms of age. In all three groups, the majority of cases were employed and had middle school and above education and work experience of between 11 and 20 years with the injury percentage of 49-25%. The mean PTSD score for the PTSD and depression group was 55.09±4.63, in the PTSD and anxiety group was 56.5±5.15, and the only PTSD group was 56.5±5.18 (Table 1). There was a significant difference between the three groups in all schemas, except for rumination, consensus, and higher values (Table 2).In paired comparison, regarding controllability and blame, the difference between the three groups was significant, and the PTSD, PTSD and anxiety, and PTSD and depression groups obtained the highest scores, respectively. In terms of rationality, emotional self-awareness, comprehensibility, acceptance, and validation by others, the anxiety group achieved a higher score than the depression group and PTSD alone group. Regarding the simplistic view of emotions and emotional expression, the PTSD and anxiety group and PTSD alone group scored higher than the group with depression. In terms of guilt, the PTSD and depression group showed higher scores than the PTSD and anxiety group and PTSD alone group and in rumination, consensus, and relationship to higher values, there was no significant difference between agreement and higher values between groups (Table 3).

… [14-22]. The results suggested that adaptive emotional schemas had a significant direct relationship with anxiety in patients with PTSD. These findings are inconsistent with the results of studies by Leahy et al. [6] and Tirch et al. [23]. … [24-29]. Regarding the controllability component, the differences between the three groups were significant, and the PTSD, PTSD and anxiety, and PTSD and depression groups obtained the highest scores, respectively, which is consistent with the findings of Simmons & Granold research [30]. … [31-32].

It is suggested that similar research be conducted on different clinical samples as well as in other cities.

The use of self-reporting tools and the cross-sectional design of the research are some of the limitations of this study.

Emotional schemas are different in war veterans suffering PTSD with depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and without signs of depression and anxiety, so in the treatment of these patients, the role and the replacement of compatible emotional schemes in the recovery of the disease should be considered.

We would like to thank all who helped us in this research, as well as all the participated veterans.

None declared.

This research was approved by the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs of Fars province.

This study was extracted from a Ph.D. thesis by the first author.

TABLES and CHARTS

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