The Effectiveness of Cognitive Rehabilitation on Executive Functions in Substance-Dependent Individuals

Objective: The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation on the executive functions of memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control. Method: The method of the present study was semi-experimental with pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population of the present study included all substance-dependent men referring to addiction clinics in the city of Tabriz, among whom 30 people were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling and assigned to two experimental and control groups. The experimental group underwent cognitive rehabilitation for 10 sessions. To collect the data, the go /no-go task, the Wisconsin card sorting test, and the direct and inverse word spacing test were used. Data were analyzed using a multivariate analysis of covariance. Results: The results of the present study showed that cognitive rehabilitation significantly affected the executive functions of memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control, but it had no significant effect on the perseveration error component of the Wisconsin card sorting test. Conclusion: According to the findings of the present study, cognitive rehabilitation can be used to treat addiction and the rehabilitation of substance-dependent individuals.