Efficacy of Dialectical Behavior Therapy on Clinical Signs and Emotion Regulation in Patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Ranked fourth in the list of mental illnesses, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) accounts for about ten percent of patients visiting medical centers. There have so far been various methods of treatment for OCD. An attempt was made in this study to determine the effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) on clinical signs and emotion regulation among patients with OCD. This was a quasi-experimental study involving intervention and control groups. The statistical population included all female patients referred to psychological counseling centers in Neyshabur during 2015. Each group comprised 15 patients selected through the convenient sampling method. The measurement tool was Yale-Brown’s Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) and Garnefski’s Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ). Training was provided for the intervention group during eight 90-minute sessions of dialectical behavior therapy, whereas the control group received no intervention. Analysis of covariance of the scores revealed that dialectical behavior therapy effectively reduced the observed symptoms and improved cognitive emotion regulation among patients. Generally, the results suggested that DBT alleviated OCD by modifying emotional responses of patients and that DBT could prove a highly effective treatment in this regard. Keyword: dialectical behavior therapy, clinical symptoms, rumination, emotion regulation, obsessive-compulsive