The Effectiveness of Dialectical Behavior Therapy on Self-Forgiveness and Depression in Teenager Girls with Self-injury History in Isfahan

Self-injury is defined as a deliberate destruction or deliberate alteration of body tissues that results in damage to the tissues. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy on other-forgiveness and depression in teenager girls with self-injury history in Isfahan.

The research method was a pre-test-posttest with a control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all teenager girls with a history of self-injury who referred to counseling centers in Isfahan in 2018. A sample of 30 teenager girls were randomly selected that were selected by inclusion/exclusion criteria and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (each group was 15). Subjects before and after the intervention, responded to the questionnaire of Interpersonal Motivation related to injury and Beck Depression Inventory. The experimental group received dialectical treatment therapy for 8 sessions of 90 minutes, while  no intervention  received by the control group.

The data were analyzed in two descriptive levels (mean and standard deviation) and inferential level (multivariate covariance analysis). The results indicated significant increase in the mean of forgiveness and a decrease in mean of depression in the experimental group compared to the control group (p≤0.05).

According to research findings, dialectical behavior therapy can be used to increase forgiveness and reduce depression in teenager girls with a history of self-injury.