Positive Emotion-Focused Cognitive group therapy for Depressive Patients:The evaluation of its treatment effects and change factors

• Main Authors: Yuan-Ying Tsai, 蔡元瑛
• Other Authors: Bi-Ling Shieh
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/17227775803571904671

碩士 === 高雄醫學大學 === 心理學研究所 === 97 === The population of depressive disorders has increased dramatically in recent years, and people suffered from the disorders have consumed social resources significantly. Also, various causes of the disorder as well as different therapies all suggested that providing an effective intervention is crucial for patients. The main presentation of depressive disorder is obvious mood disturbed. Many researches show that emotion abilities play a key role in inducing and maintaining depressive disorder. Therefore, we suggest that improving emotion abilities and experiencing more positive emotions will help people process their emotion in a healthier way, further enhance emotion adaptability and decrease disturbed emotion. As a result, we choose self’s emotion experience as a focus in this research, combining with positive emotion and cognition therapy principles, to develop an effective group program for depressive disorder as well as to evaluate its treatment effects. By relieving symptom and increasing their emotion abilities as resources, the patients are expected to have better ability to cope with future scenario and improve their life well-being. Positive Emotion-Focused Cognitive group program has two stages: there were six sessions in first stage, where different emotion abilities including positive emotion were arranged in different sessions. On the second stage, there were eight sessions where positive emotion will be continued. Moreover, the disease causes and symptoms supposed to introduced by the leader, following with emotion processing approach and cognitive therapy to intervene. This study suggests that through emotion reflection ability, endowing negative emotion with meanings and emotion schemas modifying, people will be able to have more adaptive emotion and undo the disturbed emotion. In the study, we hold fourteen first-stage groups and six second-stage groups, all led by clinical psychology graduate students. A 3×3 two way mixed design (Factor 1: three groups; Factor 2: three measure times) was used in the data analysis. There were 25 participants in treatment group program (positive group), 8 clinical patients who are not participated in the group program (clinical control group), and 10 normal cases who are not participated in group program (normal control group). Emotion state, emotion abilities and symptoms were measured in three different times, including prior to the beginning of group program, after finishing the first stage, and after finishing the second stage. The research results partially supported our hypotheses, as to treatment effects of group program, patient’s symptom and emotion adaptation was improved, including depression, anxiety, and emotion efficacy. Besides, patient’s happiness index and emotion awareness ability also obtained improvement. They can focus themselve’s emotion experience more and to distinguish different kinds of emotions. Furthermore, the patients used less dysfunction emotion regulation strategy, and easier to normalize their negative emotion and regard it more meaningful. However, the results show that patient’s self–esteem and positive emotion were declined on the second stage which was very different from our hypotheses. We consider it is due to the program setting, destability in change process, or patients not having enough regulation strategies. In addition, results also show the relationships between the change of positive emotions, emotion abilities, emotion adaptation and symptoms. Thus, we assumed Positive Emotion-Focused Cognitive group would be an effective choice for depression treatment. Using positive emotion and emotion abilities as focuses of intervention can help further understand of emotion processing and psychopathology of depressive disorder.