The Effectiveness of Positive Psychotherapy on the Psychological Capital of Women Improved from Substance Dependence

The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of positive psychotherapy on psychological capital of women improved from substance dependence. The research method was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest design and control group. In this study, the statistical population consisted of homeless women improved from substance dependence in the city of Tehran among which a sample size of 36 subjects was selected by convenience sampling method and according to the inclusion criteria. The selected samples were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The research instruments included the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (2003), Schwarzer and Jerusalem (1995) General Self-efficacy Scale, Snyder et al. (1991) Hope Scale,  and Scheier and Carver (1985) Optimism Scale. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance. The results indicated that psychotherapy was effective on the three components of psychological capital (hope, self-efficacy, and resilience) of women improved from substance dependence, and significantly improved the level of these variables, but in the optimism component, there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups. In general, it can be said that the existence of supportive factors such as psychological capital are essential to prevent and improve substance dependence. Also, based on the results, positive psychotherapy can be considered as an effective treatment to promote psychological capital.