Comparing the Effectiveness of Metacognitive Therapy and Prolonged Exposure Therapy on Reduction of Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in War Veterans with Chronic Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Abstract

Background and Aim: Due to the high prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms in veterans, the present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of metacognitive therapy as a new treatment with long-term exposure therapy as a recommended and conventional treatment in the treatment of war veterans with chronic PTSD and symptoms of anxiety and depression as comorbidity. Methods: This quasi-experimental study with a control group (waiting for treatment) was performed as a pretest and post-test with a follow-up of 3 months on 57 veterans referring to some psychiatric wards of military hospitals in Tehran, Iran. Seventeen people were randomly assigned to the experimental group 1 (receiving metacognitive therapy), 17 to the experimental group 2 (receiving long-term exposure therapy) and 23 to the control group. Research tolls included, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Index (PCL-M Military Edition), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI-II), and a demographic Researcher-made