Effectiveness of Affect Regulation Training Group Therapy on Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression

Background and purpose: Emotional dysregulations are associated with a wide range of mental disorders. This research aimed at investigating the effectiveness of affect regulation training group therapy on the symptoms of anxiety and depression. Materials and methods: An experimental research with control group was performed in 32 people with subclinical symptoms of anxiety and depression, selected through convenient sampling and randomly assigned to either the experimental group or control group. Experimental group attended 12 sessions of ART, while no intervention was performed in the control group. The participants were assessed before and after the study using Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS), Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), Emotion Regulation Skills Questionnaire (ERSQ), and Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS). All data analyses were performed using SPSS V16. Results: The experimental group showed significant decrease in subclinical symptoms of anxiety (P=0.01), depression (P=0.01), and stress (P= 0.01), and significant increase in emotion regulation skills (P=0.01) and social adjustment (P=0.01). Conclusion: In general, ART can be used as an effective transdiagnostic approach in reducing the symptoms of anxiety and depression.