The effectiveness of psychodrama group therapy and cognitive behavioral play therapy on executive functions (working memory, response inhibition, cognitive flexibility and emotional self regulation) in male students with social anxiety disorder

The present study was conducted with the aim of the effectiveness of psychodrama group therapy and cognitive behavioral play therapy on executive functions (working memory, response inhibition, cognitive flexibility and emotional self-regulation) in students with social anxiety disorder. The current research is semi-experimental with pre-test-post-test and control group. The statistical population of this research included all students with social anxiety disorder in Ardabil city in the academic year of 1401-1402. The sample of this research consists of 45 students with social anxiety disorder who were selected by available sampling method and were placed in 3 groups, each group consisting of 15 subjects (psychodrama 15 people, cognitive behavioral play therapy 15 people and control 15 people). Each subject was randomly assigned to two treatment groups (psychodrama, cognitive behavioral play therapy) and control. The instrument and questionnaire of this research included the Wisconsin card classification test and the emotional regulation questionnaire of Gross and John (2003). The results showed that psychodrama group therapy and cognitive play therapy are effective in improving executive functions and emotional regulation of male students with social anxiety at a significant level (0.05); No significant difference was found between the pre-test and post-test scores of the control group. The results of Bonferroni's post hoc test also showed that the effectiveness of psychodrama treatment is more effective in improving executive functions and emotional regulation. According to the sessions and results obtained, psychodrama group therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy had a positive effect on improving executive functions.