Effectiveness of Contextual Schema Therapy on Differentiation of Self, Attachment Styles, and Alexithymia in Married Women with Symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder
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Objective: This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of contextual schema therapy on differentiation of self, attachment styles, and alexithymia in married women with Generalized Anxiety Disorder in Isfahan.
Methods and Materials: The present study was quasi-experimental research with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population consisted of married women aged 20 to 45 with Generalized Anxiety Disorder in the city of Isfahan. From this population, 30 participants were selected purposively and randomly assigned to either the experimental group or the control group. The experimental group received contextual schema therapy intervention in 7 sessions of 90 minutes each, while the control group received no intervention. The research instruments included the standard Differentiation of Self Inventory by Skowron and Friedlander (1998), the Attachment Style Questionnaire by Collins and Read (1996), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (1985), and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire by Spitzer (2006). Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA).
Findings: The results showed that contextual schema therapy had a significant effect on increasing differentiation of self (P < 0.001, η² = 0.84), improving secure attachment style (P< 0.001, η² = 0.70), reducing avoidant (η² = 0.56) and anxious attachment styles (η² = 0.75), and also decreasing alexithymia (P< 0.001, η² = 0.85) in the experimental group compared with the control group.
Conclusion: Contextual schema therapy, through modifying maladaptive schemas and strengthening the healthy adult mode, effectively improved differentiation of self, attachment styles, and alexithymia in married women with Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
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