The Effect of Schema Therapy on the Reduction of Automatic Negative Thought ‎and the Increase of Self-esteem in Women with Depression

The purpose of the present study was to study the effect of schema therapy on the reduction of the automatic negative thought and on the increase of the self-esteem in female patients afflicted with depression who went to the psychiatry center in Arak city. Population of the study was included all female patients hospitalized in this center, of these subjects, 38 subjects were selected through the availability sampling method and were put into two groups: experimental group and control group. Both groups completed the automatic negative thought scale and Coopersmith self-esteem inventory. It should be said that during the study the subject used their own drugs and no change occurred in the amount of the drugs they previously took furthermore, the two groups were the same in terms of the education and age. Then, the experimental group underwent 8 sessions of schema therapy (in each weak two two-hour sessions were held). Following one month, the two groups completed the questionnaires again. There were 15 subjects left in each group. The obtained data were analyzed by covariance analysis and kruskal – wallis nonparametric test. The results showed the effect of schema therapy on the reduction of the variable of belief and on the increase of self-esteem in comparison to the control group. However, in frequency variable of the automatic negative thought no significant change happened.