A Randomized Controlled Trial on the Efficacy of PositivePsychotherapy on Improving Executive Function and Plasma Cortisol Levels in Patients with Anxiety

Anxiety among students can lead to decreased performance and may be associated with other psychological and biological consequences. Therefore, it deserves clinical attention. On the other hand, reinforcing positive resources such as feelings, behaviors, and positive cognitions can be used as an important intervention in managing and improving mood disorders. This study evaluated the efficacy of positive psychotherapyon improving executive function and modulating serum cortisol levels in patients with anxiety.

In a randomized controlled clinical trial, 30 students with anxiety symptoms were selected using purposive sampling method and were assigned to experimental and control groups through block randomization method after confirming entry criteria. The intervention was presented to the experimental group in a positive approach for ten weekly sessions and the control group was placed on the waiting list. Changes in the executive functions index were considered as primary outcomes and serum cortisol levels fluctuations were considered as secondary outcomes. Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance in SPSS 21 software.

Primary outcomesshowed that ten weeks of positive therapy had a significant effect on improvement of executive function (p<0.001). Secondary outcomes also showed that positive psychotherapy was effective in decreasing serum cortisol levels (p<0.001).

Results showed that positive psychotherapy had a significant effect on the improvement of executive function and reducing serum cortisol levels. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of psychotherapy on the prefrontal cortex (PFC)and its interaction with the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis function.Declaration of Interest: None.Declaration of Interest: None