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Heroin Addiction and Related Clinical Problems: 2023, 25, N6 (pages: 29 - 41)

Comparing the Effectiveness of Emotion-focused Therapy and Schema Therapy in Impulsivity, Shame, and Self-blame in Addicts on Methadone Maintenance Treatment: A Clinical Trial Study

Salasi B., Ramezani M.A., Jahan F., and Kordbagheri M.

Summary: Background. Methadone maintenance treatment is a promising intervention for opioid addicts. Therefore, it is necessary to measure and compare the efficiency of evidence-based psychological interventions regarding psychological components affecting the mental health of addicts. Aim. The present research aimed to compare the effectiveness of Emotion-focused Therapy (EFT) and Schema Therapy (SCT) in impulsivity, shame, and self-blame of addicts on methadone maintenance treatment. Methods. The present semi-experimental study used a comparison group with random assignment, pre-test/post-test design, and a three-month follow-up. Fifty-four patients were selected purposefully and randomly assigned to three groups. Forty-five participants fully responded to all tools until the follow-up stage. The SCT and EFT groups received intervention for 12 sessions each, and the control group continued to take the typical dose of methadone without receiving the psychological intervention. The repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used with SPSS26 to analyse the data. Results. The SCT and EFT methods were effective on impulsivity, shame, and self-blame and their components in addicts on methadone maintenance treatment, and this effect remained over time (p<0.05). Nevertheless, SCT was more effective than EFT on the self-confidence component in the self-blame variable and the cognitive component in the impulsivity variable (p<0.05). On the other hand, the effectiveness on the self-efficacy variable was higher than that of SCT, and the results remained until the end of the follow-up period (p<0.05). Conclusions. Although both treatments had similar effectiveness implicitly, SCT is a more appropriate option to improve the cognitive component of impulsivity and self-confidence.