Document Type : Research Article

Authors

• Amirhossein Yavari ¹
• Seyed Abdolmajid Bahrainian ²
• Mahnaz Mehrabizadeh Honarmand ³
• Shahram Vaziri ⁴
• ghasem Ahi ⁵

¹ Ph. D. Student in clinical Psychology. Clinical Psychology Department, Medical Science Faculty, Birjand Branch. Islamic Azad University, Birjand, Iran

² Clinical Psychology Department, Medical Science Faculty, Birjand Branch, Islamic Azad University, Birjand, Iran

³ Professor in Clinical Psychology. Clinical Psychology Department, Education & Psychology Faculty, Ahvaz, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran

⁴ Clinical Psychology Department, Psychology Faculty, roudehen Branch. Islamic Azad University, roudehen, Iran

⁵ Assistant Professor in Clinical Psychology. Clinical Psychology Department, Medical Science Faculty, Birjand Branch. Islamic Azad University, Birjand, Iran

Abstract

The aim of this study was to design and clinical trial the psychotherapy protocol for depression based on the explanatory model of depression in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. This study was an experimental research with pre-test, post-test and follow-up phase. The statistical population includes all people between 20 and 50 years old with multiple sclerosis that diagnosed with depression in Hamedan city-Iran in 2021 (MS disease of the sample group members has already been definitively diagnosed by a neurologist and at least six months have passed since the diagnosis of MS). The research sample was 40 people from population (so that 10 of them were studied in the pilot phase and 30 of them were studied in the clinical trial phase) that selected by convenient sampling method. In each of the phases (pilot and clinical trial) members of the research sample were randomly replaced in two groups: experimental group (5 people in the pilot phase and 15 people in the clinical trial phase) and control group (5 people in the pilot phase and 15 people in the clinical trial phase). Second edition of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) was used as measurement instrument. After designing the depression psychotherapy protocol based on the explanatory model of depression in patients with multiple sclerosis (The fit and significance of this statistical model has already been checked and confirmed by the structural equation modeling or SEM method) and testing in the pilot phase, the experimental group was subjected to the psychotherapy of this protocol in the clinical trial phase. According to the principles of clinical trial, all the interventions of both phases of research (pilot and clinical trial) were implemented similar to each other and without differences. In both phases, the control group did not receive any intervention. Data analyzing in the pilot phase was done by a non-parametric test (U mann whitney test) and in the clinical trial phase was done by univariate covariance analysis (MANCOVA).The result of data analyzing in pilot phase showed significant effect of intervention and we were allowed to run the clinical trial phase. Data analyzing in the clinical trial phase showed that the depression psychotherapy protocol in patients with multiple sclerosis that diagnosed with depression had a significant effect on reducing depression in these patients (p < 0/05). According to the findings of this research, it can be concluded that the depression psychotherapy protocol in patients with multiple sclerosis has the ability to be designed and this protocol is effective in reducing depression in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Keywords

• Explanatory model of depression
• Depression
• Designing depression psychotherapy protocol
• Multiple sclerosis

Main Subjects

• Psychotherapy