Effect of Dialectical Behavior Therapy on Cognitive Emotion Regulation, Cognitive Flexibility, and Worry in Women With Depression: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Abstract

Objectives This study aims to assess the effect of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) on cognitive emotion regulation, cognitive flexibility and worry in women with depression. Methods This is a randomized controlled clinical trial with a pre-test/post-test design. The study population consists of all women with depression referred to psychology clinics in Jahrom, Iran, in 2022. From three clinics of Hami, Rahgosha, and Fardaye Behtar, 30 women with a Beck depression inventory (BDI) score of 20-28 (moderate depression) were selected using a purposeful sampling method, and were randomly divided into intervention (n=15) and control (n=15) groups. Garnefski et al.'s cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire, Dennis and Vander Wal's cognitive flexibility questionnaire, Meir et al.'s Penn State worry questionnaire, and BDI were used to collect data. Data analysis was done using the analysis of covariance. Results The DBT had a significant effect on the study variables. It has caused an increase in adaptive CER strategies and cognitive flexibility and a decrease in maladaptive CER strategies and worry. Conclusion The DBT can be used to reduce worry and improve cognitive flexibility and adaptive CER strategies in depressed women.