The Efficacy of Group Cognitive Behavior Therapy on severity of Pain and Mental Health in Chronic Back Pain Individuals

This study has been conducted to investigate the effectiveness of group cognitive behavioral therapy for severity of pain and mental health in individuals with back pain. This is a quasi-experimental research and posttest-pretest, control group design is used. Of women with chronic back pain who came to Imam Khomeni Hospital and who consulted a physician in his surgery in 2011,30 women, having average age of 33 years and seven months, were selected randomly and were also put randomly into two groups of fifteen. All participants completed General Health Questionnaire(GHQ) and Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale before and after intervention. After 12 sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy, t The results indicated that the back pain significantly decreased and mental health improved significantly, too. According to the findings of the study, it can be said that group cognitive behavioral therapy would lead to the improvement of bio- psychological components through affecting mechanisms involved in Melzack’s neuromatrix and changing psychological structures, as a mediator of pain. Therefore, group cognitive behavioral therapy is a useful intervention for reducing severity of pain, as well as increasing mental health.