Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy on Reducing the Maladaptive Schemas of Posttraumatic stress disorder in Veteran's Wives

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effect of cognitive-behavioral therapy on Young's areas of maladaptive schema in spouses of veterans with Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A quasi-experimental method with pre-test and post- test with control group design was conducted. Twenty spouses of veterans with PTSD after the screening were assigned to experimental and control groups. Secondary trauma stress scale was used for screening, and veteran's spouse who have low score in this scale were identified and were randomly assigned to experimental and control group. The early maladaptive scheme Scale-Short Form (YSQ-SF), was used for gathering of data. Treatment program was used in 31 sessions for experimental group. Data were analyzed with test of ANCOVA and MANCOVA.
Findings: The results showed that the effect of cognitive-behavioral therapy on modifying of early maladaptive schemas was significant in three areas of Disconnection/ Rejection, over vigilance/Inhibition and Other-Directedness. But in the areas of Impaired Autonomy and/or Performance, and Impaired Limits did not change significantly. Cognitive-behavioral therapy could significantly change early maladaptive schema in spouses of veterans with PTSD.