The Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavior Therapy on Alexithymia, Emotion Regulation, and Psychological Capital of Male Substance Abusers in Kerman

Background: Substance dependence is a maladaptive pattern that leads to clinically significant degradation and is manifested through a set of cognitive, behavioral, and physiological symptoms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) on alexithymia, emotional regulation and psychological capital of male substance abusers, under the auspices of addiction treatment centers. Methods: This randomized clinical trial was conducted from June to September ۲۰۲۱ in Kerman, Iran using a pretest, post-test design with a control group. A single therapy center was randomly selected via multi-stage cluster sampling from several substance abuse treatment centers using agonists for treatment. Then ۵۰ people were randomly selected and allocated to experimental and control groups. The research instruments were questionnaires for alexithymia, emotional regulation, and psychological capital. After the pretest phase, the experimental group underwent ۱۰ sessions of CBT. In the next step, the post-test was conducted and after ۶ weeks the follow-up test was performed on the groups. The control group did not receive the intervention. Finally, the data obtained from ۴۰ participants were analyzed using the t-test in SPSS-۲۵ software. Results: The findings indicated that the intervention in the post-test phase significantly reduced alexithymia (P=۰.۰۰۱), increased emotion regulation (P=۰.۰۰۱) and increased psychological capital (P=۰.۰۰۳). Also, in the follow-up phase, the results show a significant decrease in alexithymia (P=۰.۰۰۲), increase in emotion regulation (P=۰.۰۰۱) and increase in psychological capital (P=۰.۰۰۲). Conclusion: CBT can improve alexithymia, emotional regulation and psychological capital of substance abusers and can be used in addiction treatment centers.

Keywords:

Addiction , Cognitive Behavior Therapy , alexithymia , emotion regulation , Psychological capital