The Efficacy of Culturally Adapted Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on the Symptoms of Emotional Disorders

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

2 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

3 Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada

Abstract

Culturally Adapted Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CaCBT) is a newly introduced treatment for emotional disorders applied to enhance Cognitive behavioral therapy Cognitive (CBT) efficiency in non-Western cultures. This study aimed to investigate the efficiency of CaCBT on the symptoms of emotional disorder in Iranian population. The present study was applied in terms of purpose, experimental in terms of data collection and single-case in research design. The statistical population was all students of the University of Tabriz in the year 2018-2019. The depression, anxiety, and stress scale (DASS-42) were implemented on 335 students who enrolled in the study through the multilevel clustering method. Of them, 4 students were selected for the main intervention based on their higher scores in DASS-42. Then, the 8-session CaCBT (Naeem et al., 2015) was administered to both students and their families by two independent therapists. To assess the severity of symptoms, Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) were used. The results indicated that CaCBT effectively and significantly changed the symptoms of emotional disorders (e.g. depression and anxiety), and the follow up scores were optimal. The effect sizes for all 4 participants were at least moderate (0.52). It was articulated that appropriate therapeutic protocols for the Iranian population could be developed and applied through changing or adapting traditional psychotherapies based on cultural and contextual components. Clinical and applied considerations of the CaCBT are discussed.

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History

  • Receive Date: 08 February 2022
  • Revise Date: 22 February 2022
  • Accept Date: 24 February 2022

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