The Effectiveness of Cognitive Rehabilitation on Attention and Working Memory in Patients with Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Background and Aim : Generalized anxiety disorder is one of the most common psychological disorders. Worry, as the main symptom of this disorder, can impair cognitive functioning. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation on working memory and attention in people with generalized anxiety disorder.Methods : The research method is quasi-experimental with pretest, post-test and control group. The study population included all clients with generalized anxiety disorder who referred to counseling centers in the first half of the year. From this population, 30 persons were selected as available and then were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups, 15 each. Finally, the cognitive rehabilitation program was administered to the experimental group under 12 sessions of Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy with Captain Log Version 2014 software. The instruments used in this study were the General Anxiety Scale(GAD-7), diagnostic interview, CPT and n -back test. Multivariate analysis of co-variance was used to analyze the data using SPSS Version 23 software.Results : The findings indicate that after the intervention, the individuals performance on working memory and attention has increased significantly, which confirms the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation program on improving working memory and attention in people with generalized anxiety disorder.Conclusion : It can be concluded that cognitive rehabilitation programs can improve cognitive impairments, including working memory and attention in people with anxiety disorder.

Keywords:

Anxiety Disorders , Attention , Working Memory