The effect of cognitive-behavioral group therapy on thought-action fusion, thought suppression, and guilt feeling in university students

Introduction: This present study was an attempt to assess the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral group therapy in thought-action fusion, thought suppression, and guilt feeling in female university students. Method: It was a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest design. Initially, ۵۱۸ female BA students at the University of Chamran, Ahvaz, Iran were randomly selected and were asked to respond to three scales: Thought-Action Fusion Scale, Thought Suppression Scale, and Guilt Feeling Scale. From among participants scoring higher than one standard deviation, ۳۰ were selected and were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. The treatment group underwent eight ۶۰ minute sessions of cognitive-behavioral therapy. Results: The results of multivariate covariance showed that cognitive behavior therapy could significantly reduce thought-action fusion, thought suppression, and guilt feeling in the experimental group. Conclusion: Cognitive behavior therapy can be helpful in increasing individuals’ awareness and decreasing thought-action fusion, thought suppression, and guilt feeling among female university students.

Keywords:

cognitive behavioral therapy , Thought-action fusion , Thought Suppression , guilt feeling