ARTICLE INFO

Article Type

Original Research

Authors

Hosseini   M. (1)
Azimi   D. (*)
Abbasi   M. (2)
Dargahi   S. (3)






(*) Counseling Department, Psychology & Educational Sciences Faculty, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran
(1) Clinical Psychology Department, Psychology Faculty, Arak Branch, Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran
(2) Psychology Department, Literature & Human Sciences Faculty, Salman Farsi University, Kazerun, Iran
(3) Educational Sciences Department, Psychology & Educational Sciences Faculty, University Mohaghegh Ardebili, Ardabil, Iran

Correspondence

Address: Psychology & Educational Sciences Faculty, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran
Phone: +98 (45) 32731754
Fax: _
dazimi038@gmail.com

Article History

Received:  August  19, 2017
Accepted:  October 7, 2017
ePublished:  January 11, 2018

BRIEF TEXT


The effects of war may be for those who have directly or indirectly have experienced war or may even be visible in subsequent generations. Many survivors of war show special clinical responses after confronting the stressful event [1].

… [2-11]. Studies on veterans show that veterans have many psychiatric disorders such as depression, suspicious thoughts, obsession, aggression, anxiety, and mood disorders [12, 13]. … [14-16].Throughout the researches, it has been shown that treatment based on acceptance and commitment is appropriate and effective treatment and can reduce depression and anxiety in patients with cancer [17], increasing self-regulation [4], decreasing the rate of depression in diabetic patients [18], and generally improving quality of life and psychological well-being of individuals [16].

So far, no specific research has been conducted on the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment treatment in terms of problems of veterans especially in the field of emotions. In general, considering the view of treatment approach based on acceptance and commitment and trying to create psychological flexibility, this method can be used to improve the emotional state of veterans. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on the emotional control of chemical veterans.

This applied research is a semi-experimental one with pretest and posttest design with control group.

This research was conducted in the society of veterans with chemical injury in 2016-2017.

According to Delavar, the minimum sample size required for performing semi-experimental research is 15 for each group [19]. However, for the selected samples to be a real representative of society, and the results of the research be reliable to some extent, 50 people were selected after the first screening using convenience sampling method and then were randomly divided into two equal groups of experimental (n=25) and control (n=25). The criteria for entering the study included signing the consent of company in research, having a minimum age of 30 to 45 years with a minimum degree of diploma, and not receiving other psychological therapies, and criteria for withdrawal from the study included absence from more than one session, and incomplete completion of the questionnaire.

To collect data, an emotional control questionnaire was used; Roger and Neshavar adjusted the Emotional Control Questionnaire (ECQ) [7], and Rojer and Najarian reviewed it [8]. In this study, a revised questionnaire was used. The questionnaire has 56 items and 4 subscales of emotional inhibition, aggression control, rumination, and control. Each subset has 14 items which is graded as zero and one. Roger and Najarian calculated the internal consistency of the emotional control questionnaire using Corder Richardson formula 20 which was 0.77, 0.81, 0.86, and 0.79 for subscales of emotional restraint, aggression control, rumination, and benign control respectively [8]. In Hasani and Bamani Yazdi, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient using internal consistency method for the whole scale and the subscales of emotional inhibition, aggression control, rumination and benign control were 0.72, 0.71, 0.72, 0.70 and 0.68 [4]. Regarding the volume of educational content, acceptance and commitment treatment-based therapy [20] was performed and presented to the subjects in 10 sessions of 45 minutes in a weekly session, and the explanations and teachings of this approach were about mental flexibility, psychological acceptance, psychological awareness, cognitive separation, self-visualization, illumination of values and committed action. After completion of posttest training sessions, two months after the completion of the training, a follow-up test was conducted in the two groups. Data were analyzed using SPSS 23 software. At first, the Box test was used to check the variance homogeneity. Then, multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was used.

The mean age of the subjects in the experimental group and the control group was 54.04±3.92 and 53.65±4.14 years. The mean scores of emotional control in the experimental and control groups were significantly different in the posttest phase. By controlling the effects of pretest, the acceptance and commitment-based therapy improved emotional restraint, control of aggression and rumination. However, its effect on the benign control was not significant (Table 1).

Based on the obtained results, treatment based on acceptance and commitment therapy, had a significant effect on the emotional inhibition of veterans. This finding [18, 21-23] was consistent with the results of various studies. … [24, 25]. Also, acceptance and commitment-based therapy improved the emotional problems of aggressive control of the veterans. This finding was in line with the results of other findings [26-28]. … [29]. Teaching acceptance and commitment-based therapy resulted in a reduction in the rumination of chemical veterans. This finding was, also, consistent with the results of other studies [4, 16, 30, and 31].

It is recommended that veterans be introduced about emotions and emotional control, and be trained about their role in behavior and interactions and emotional problems. They should be introduced about separating knowledge, emotion, and behavior from the individual’s integrity to prevent self or others’ blame and avoid experiencing personal or interpersonal negative emotions.

The limitation of this study was that it was limited to male chemical warfare victims.

Acceptance and commitment-based therapy improves the emotional control of the chemical veterans i.e. it improves emotional inhibition, control of aggression and rumination. However, it does not affect benign control.

We appreciate and thank all male chemical veterans in Arak city who as subject in this research have been extremely cooperative with the researchers.

Non-declared

None of the members were compulsorily placed in the groups and the selected samples were categorized according to the criteria of entry in the control and experimental groups. Before the start of the sessions, the duration of each meeting and the total number of meetings as well as how the meetings were held were elaborated for the members. Prior to the start of the training sessions, members were assured that the information that would be taken from them or the discussions that were scheduled to take place would be confidential, and members were also required to comply with the principles of privacy. Among some of the meetings, members were asked to express their feelings about the atmosphere of the meeting.

This research has been funded by the authors.

TABLES and CHARTS

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