Comparison of the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy and emotional schema therapy on neuroticism and dysfunctional attitudes in cardiovascular patients

 This study was performed to compare the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy and emotional schema therapy on neuroticism، dysfunctional attitudes and lifestyle of cardiovascular patients. 

 In this quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design and follow-up with a control group، the samples included 45 cardiovascular patients from public hospitals in Babol. The samples were divided into three groups of 15 in the treatment group. Cognitive-behavioral، emotional schema therapy group and control group were divided. Wright، Besco and Sharp (2006) cognitive-behavioral therapy protocol was performed in 8 2-hour sessions and Leahy et al. (2014) emotional therapy schema was performed in 12 2-hour weekly sessions. McCreery (1985) and the dysfunctional attitudes of Weisman and Beck (1978) were evaluated and compared. Analysis of variance with repeated measures and SPSS.22 software were used to analyze the data. 

 The results showed that the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy on patients' neuroticism was more than emotional schema therapy (F= 78.35، P<0.001), the effectiveness of emotional schema therapy on dysfunctional attitudes was more than cognitive-behavioral therapy was (F=34.89، P<0.001). 

 The results of this study showed that cognitive-behavioral therapy and emotional schema therapy can be an effective intervention in reducing neuroticism and dysfunctional attitudes in cardiovascular patients.