The Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy on Depression, Hope and Adjustment in Patients with Hepatitis B

Abstract

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a serious global health problem. There is a high prevalence of depression among patients with hepatitis B. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive behavior group therapy (CBGT) on depression, hope and adjustment in patients with hepatitis B (HB). Methods: In an experimental study with a pretest-posttest control group design, 28 patients with hepatitis B were selected through convenience sampling method from the Association for the Study of Liver Diseases in Mashhad and were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups, each containing 14 individuals. The experimental group received cognitive behavioral group therapy in 10 weeks (2 h weekly sessions) and the control group received no treatment. Both groups of participants were evaluated on Beck depression inventory-second edition (BDI-II), adult hope scale (AHS) and bell adjustment inventory (BAI) before and after the intervention. For data analysis, ANCOVA (one-way analysis of covariance) in SPSS version 22 was performed. Results: Results indicated that cognitive behavioral group therapy significantly leads to increased hope (P < 0.001) and adjustment (P < 0.001) compared to the control group. Compared to control group, the experimental group showed greater improvement in reducing depression rate at the end of the intervention. However there were no statistically significant differences between them (P = 1). Conclusions: Cognitive behavioral group therapy sessions substantially contributed to the improvement of hope and adjustment in patients with hepatitis B.