The effectiveness of group therapy based on emotional schema therapy on decrease of anxiety sensitivity in woman with social anxiety disorder

Authors
Maryam Morvaridi 1
Ali Mashhadi 2
Zohre Sepehri Shamloo 2
1 Department of Clinical Psychology, shahed University, Tehran, Iran
2 Department of Clinical Psychology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
Abstract
Introduction

Social anxiety disorder is the most prevalent anxiety disorder. The psychological therapy has focused on treating an aspect of damaged underlying factors in anxiety. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of group therapy based on emotional schema therapy on the decrease of anxiety sensitivity in women with social anxiety disorder.

Materials and Methods

This study was the quasi-experimental type with pretest - posttest and control group. The study population consisted of all women with social anxiety disorder and have 18 to 35 years old who referred to the psychological clinic of the Ferdowsi university of Mashhad. According to the sample size in the previous research, 24 people were selected through convenience sampling method and were selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Then divided randomly into experimental and control groups. Clinical Structured Garfield and Marcus’s anxiety sensitivity questionnaire were used in this study. Emotional schema group therapy was performed in 10 sessions once a week. The questionnaire was completed in the post-test.

Results

Findings showed that Emotional schema group therapy reduced the anxiety sensitivity of the patients with social anxiety in the experimental group compared to the control group. (F=346/86, p<0/001., Mean of experimental group= 35/41)

Conclusion

The use of emotional schema therapy can be effective in reducing the anxiety sensitivity of women with social anxiety disorder.
Keywords
social anxiety disorder
emotional schema therapy
anxiety sensitivity
woman
1. Greenberger D, Padesky CA. [Mind over mood: Change how you feel by changing the way you think]. Translated by Habibollah Ghassemzadeh. Tehran: Arjmand Publications; 2011. [Persian]
2. Sadock BJ, Sadock VA, Ruiz P. [Synopsis of psychiatry: Behavioral sciences clinical psychiatry]. Translated by Farzin Rezaei. 11nd ed. Tehran: Arjmand; 2015. [Persian]
3. Schmidtendorf S, Wiedau S, Asbrand J, Tuschen-Caffier B, Heinrichs N. Attentional bias in children with social anxiety disorder. Cogn Ther Res 2018;42(3):273-88.
4. Hofmann SG. Cognitive factors that maintain social anxiety disorder: A comprehensive model and its treatment implications. Cogn Ther Res 2007;36(4):193-209.
5. Cardwell CN. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5®).5nd ed: American Psychiatric Pub; 2013.
6. Norton PJ, Edwards KS. Anxiety sensitivity or interoceptive sensitivity. Eur J Psychol Assess 2015;33(1):1-8.
7. Deacon BJ, Abramowitz JS, Woods CM, Tolin DF. The anxiety sensitivity index-revised: psychometric properties and factor structure in two nonclinical samples. Behav Res Ther 2003;41(12):1427-49.
8. McCabe RE. Implicit and explicit memory for threat words in high-and low-anxiety-sensitive participants. J Cogn Ther Res 1999;23(1):21-38.
9. Leahy RL. A model of emotional schemas. Cogn Behav Pract 2002;9(3):177-90.
10. Leahy RL. Emotional schemas and resistance to change in anxiety disorders. Cogn Behav Pract 2007;14(1):36-45.
11. Leahy RL. Emotional schema therapy. New York: Guilford Press; 2015.
12. Suh J-W, Lee HJ, Yoo N, Min H, Seo DG, Choi K-H. A brief version of the leahy emotional schema scale: a validation study. J Cogn Ther. Springer Nature; 2019 Jan 3; Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s41811-018-0039-4.
13. Leahy RL. Emotional schemas and self-help: Homework compliance and obsessive-compulsive disorder. J Cognitive Behav Prac 2007;14(3):297-302.
14. Heimberg RG, Juster HR, Harlan R, Hope DA. Cognitive-behavioral group treatment: Description, case presentation, and empirical support. Social phobia: Clinical and research perspectives 1995; 293-321.
15. Khaleghi M, Leahy RL, Akbari E, Mohammadkhani S, Hasani J, Tayyebi A. Emotional schema therapy for generalized anxiety disorder: a single- subject design. Int J Cogn Ther 2017;10(4):269-82.
16. Floyd M, Garfield A, LaSota MT. Anxiety sensitivity and worry. Pers Individ Dif 2005;38(5):1223-9.
17. Reiss S, Peterson RA, Gursky DM, McNally RJ. Anxiety sensitivity, anxiety frequency and the prediction of fearfulness. Behav Res Ther 1986;24(1):1-8.
18. Moradi Manesh F, MirJafari S, Goodarzi m, Mohammadi N. ]Evaluation of psychometric properties of the revised anxiety sensitivity index[. J Psycho 2007;11(4):426-46. [Persian]
19. Morvaridi M, Mashhadi A, Sepehri Shamloo Z, Leahy R. The effectiveness of group emotional schema therapy on emotional regulation and social anxiety symptoms. Int J Cogn Ther 2018;1(4):1-9.
20. Rezaee M, Ghazanfari F, Reazee F. Effectiveness of emotional schema therapy on severity of depression and rumination in people with major depressive disorder. JSSU 2016;24(1):41-54. [Persian]
21. Rezaei M, Ghadampur E, Kazemi R, Kazemi R. Effectiveness of emotional schema therapy on rumination and severity of depression in patients with major depressive disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychology 2016;7(4):45-58. [Persian]
22. Daneshmandi S, Izadikhah Z, Kazemi H, Mehrabi H. The effectiveness of emotional schema therapy on emotional schemas of female victims of child abuse and neglect. JSSU 2014;22(5):1481-94. [Persian]
23. Batmaz S, Kaymak S U, Kocbiyik S, Turkcapar M H. Metacognitions and emotional schemas: a new cognitive perspective for the distinction between unipolar and bipolar depression. Compr Psychiatry 2014;55(7):1546-55.
24. Leahy RL, Wupperman P, Edwards E, Shivaji S, Molina N. Metacognition and emotional schemas: effects on depression and anxiety. Int J Cogn Ther 2018 Nov 27; Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s41811-018-0035-8
25. Jafari A, Pouyamanesh J, Ghorbanian N, Kabiri M. The Effectiveness of Schema Therapy on Moderating Early Maladaptive Schemas And Reducing Students'anxiety Sensitivity. Journal of Instruction and Evaluation. 2014;6(24):79-91. (Persian)
26. Gholami F, Jafari A, Ghamari M. Effectiveness of group counseling based on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) on the reduction of the symptoms of anxiety sensitivity of divorced women. Woman & Study of Family. 2013;5(19):115-31. (Persian)
27. Ghayour-Kazemi F, Sepehri-Shamloo Z, Mashhadi A, Ghanaei-Chamanabad A. A Comparative Study Effectiveness of Metacognitive Therapy with Neurofeedback Training on Reducing Anxiety Symptoms in Female Students with Social Anxiety Disorder. JCP 2016;4(1 and 2):19-30. (Persian)
28. Deacon B, Abramowitz J. Anxiety sensitivity and its dimensions across the anxiety disorders. J Anxiety Disord 2006;20(7):837-57
29. Rector NA, Szacun-Shimizu K, Leybman M. Anxiety sensitivity within the anxiety disorders: Disorder-specific sensitivities and depression comorbidity. Behav Res Ther 2007;45(8):1967-75.
30. Mashhadi A, Ghasempour A, Akbari E, Ilbaygi R, Hassanzadeh S. ]The role of anxiety sensitivity and emotion regulation in prediction of social anxiety disorder in students[. Knowledge & Research in Applied Psychology 2013;14(52):89-99. (Persian)
31. Beirami M, Akbari E, Qasempour A, Azimi Z. An Investigation of Anxiety Sensitivity, Meta-Worry and Components of Emotion Regulation in Students with and without Social Anxiety Clinical Psychology Studies 2012;2(8):40-69. (Persian)