The Effectiveness of the Third Wave of Psychological Treatments on Impulsivity of Women with Substance Use and Addictive Disorders

Impulsive behaviors pertain to various reward-driven, immature, and high-risk activities encountered in daily life, often referred to as risky activities. This study aims to compare the efficacy of the third wave of psychological treatments in addressing impulsivity among women with substance-related and addictive disorders.

This study adopts an experimental design with both experimental and control groups. The target population consists of women exhibiting impulsivity and substance-related and addictive disorders in Zahedan city, Iran. Convenience sampling was employed, wherein 12 patients were chosen for each group after undergoing an interview at a psychology clinic. The research instruments employed were the Structured Clinical Interview based on DSM-5 (2013) and the Barratt Impulsive Scale (1994). The experimental group received the third wave of psychological treatment, which spanned one month and consisted of 8 sessions lasting 90 minutes each. Conversely, the control group did not receive any intervention. Pre and post-tests were conducted using inventories, and data were evaluated using multivariate analysis of covariance and LSD test.

The findings reveal significant differences between the mean scores of impulsivity and it’s components in the experimental groups, which underwent the third wave of psychological treatments, and the control group (p<0.001).

In conclusion, the results of these studies have demonstrated that the third wave of psychological treatment, specifically DBT, can effectively address impulsivity in women with substance use and addictive disorders.