Cognitive Behavior Therapy with Positive Imagination of Health on Dysfunctional Attitudes

The purpose of the present research was to study the effectiveness of cognitive behavior therapy with positive imagination of health on dysfunctional attitudes on primary hypertension in patients with dysfunctional attitudes and primary hypertension. Subjects and

The sample of the study included 40 subjects with primary hypertension (22 females and 18 males) who referred to specialist clinics in Ahwaz. They were matched of age, educational status and other criteria considered in this research, then randomly divided into two groups as experimental and control. We administered Beck and Wizeman Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale (DAS). Twelve sessions of cognitive behavior therapy with positive imagination of health for experimental group only. Finally, all subjects of two groups were assessed from dysfunctional attitudes and primary hypertension in posttest and follow up.

The results revealed that there was a significant difference between two groups in dysfunctional attitudes and primary hypertension at posttest and follow up (P<0.001). The rate of dysfunctional attitudes and primary hypertension in the experimental group were significantly decreased compared to the pretest and control group. These results persisted significantly during the follow-up period. Also, by controlling the duration of the disease, there was a significant difference between experimental and control group in terms of dysfunctional attitudes and primary hypertension, but in terms of primary hypertension, no significant difference was observed. This result suggests that the duration of the disease has no effect on the rate of dysfunctional attitudes, but does affect the primary hypertension of the groups in the follow-up period.

The results of this study suggest that cognitive behavior therapy with positive imagination of health significantly decreased the dysfunctional attitudes and primary hypertension, therefore using cognitive behavior therapy with positive imagination of health in high hypertension patients is recommended.