An Islamic Form of Logotherapy in the Treatment of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Symptoms in University Students in Iran

Shapour Fereydouni,Simon Forstmeier

doi:10.1007/s10943-021-01495-0

Abstract

Previous research demonstrated that spiritually sensitive psychotherapy is an effective treatment for clients with depression or anxiety, with outcomes equivalent to secular control interventions. The goal of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of spiritually sensitive logotherapy intervention in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms in university students in Iran. Sixty students with elevated depression symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory II, BDI-II, 22 or greater) were randomly assigned to either a twelve-session group logotherapy programme or a control group. Results showed that spiritually sensitive logotherapy significantly reduced depression, anxiety, and stress, and significantly more so than in the control group (e.g. interaction effect for BDI-II: F = 56.8, p < 0.001, with a large effect size).

Highlights

One in five individuals (17.6%) meets the criteria for a common mental disorder in any given year, and 29.2% at some time during their lives, as a recent meta-analysis concludes (Steel et al, 2014)
Another study found a higher prevalence for depression (28.8%) than for anxiety disorders (14%) in Iranian adults (Alizadeh et al, 2019)
Aim: Negative thoughts, positive thoughts, optimism and hope Theoretical background: Logotherapy; cognitive therapy (Beck et al, 1987) Therapeutic strategy: The session started with a brief reception with small pieces of chocolate

Summary

Introduction

One in five individuals (17.6%) meets the criteria for a common mental disorder in any given year, and 29.2% at some time during their lives, as a recent meta-analysis concludes (Steel et al, 2014). 2013), anxiety disorders (Baxter et al, 2013) and stress-related disorders (Kalia, 2002) are among the most frequent of these mental disorders. They contribute to the global burden of disease as they are associated with impaired physical and mental functioning, more work days lost, increased impairment at work and a high use of health care services (Vigo et al, 2016). Many studies on mental health in Iran use the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS, Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995) as an assessment tool. On the DASS, the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress has been found to be 29%, 32.2% and 34.8%, respectively, in an adult population in Iran (Mirzaei et al, 2019)

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