The Effectiveness of Mentalization-Based Therapy on Emotional Dysregulation and Impulsivity in Veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the prominent psychological consequences of war that is seen in some veterans. Mentalization-based therapy (MBT) is a psychoactive intervention that can target a range of psychological impairments. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of MBT on the reduction of emotional dysregulation and impulsivity of veterans with PTSD.

In this semi-experimental study with pretest-posttest design, 40 veterans with PTSD who referred to Isar Ardabil psychiatric hospital in 2018 were selected through convenient sampling and randomly assigned to two groups of experimental and control subjects. The data were collected using a PTSD checklist-military (PCL-M) of Weathers, difficulties in emotion regulation Scale (DERS) of Gratz and Roemer and Barratt impulsivity Scale (BIS). Then, the sessions of MBT were performed for 20 sessions of 75 minutes for the experimental group.

After control of pretesting effects, a significant difference between the mean posttest scores of the two groups in emotional dysregulation and impulsivity variables has been observed.

MBT is a suitable strategy for improving the emotional dysregulation and reducing impulsivity of veterans with PTSD and can be used as an effective intervention method.