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Comparing the Effectiveness of Short-Term Anxiety-Modifying Dynamic Psychotherapy with Emotional Schema Therapy on Ego Strength, Expressed Emotion and Self-Compassion in People with Health Anxiety
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Helen Moftizadeh   , Elham Omidi Moghadam , Farnoosh Khodabakhsh , Mohammad Ali Goodarzi * , Masoumeh Fathi , Tayyebeh Sisakhti |
| , mohammadaligodarzi142@gmail.com |
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Abstract: (94 Views) |
Introduction: People with health anxiety mainly suffer from low ego strength, unexpressed emotions and decreased self-compassion. Accordingly, the aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy of Anxiety-Modulating Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy and Emotion-Focused Schema Therapy on ego strength, emotional expression and self-compassion in individuals with health anxiety.
Methods: The current study used a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest and control group. The population for this study included all individuals with health anxiety who referred to psychology and neurology clinics in District 5 of Tehran during the spring of 2024. Using a volunteer sampling method, 30 individuals were selected as the sample. These individuals were randomly assigned to three groups: two experimental groups and one control group. The first experimental group received Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy with an anxiety-regulating approach based on the psychodynamic theory of McCullough (2003) in 12 sessions, each lasting 70 minutes. The second experimental group received the Emotional Schema Therapy protocol based on Leahy's book, Emotional Schema Therapy (2018), in 10 sessions, each lasting 2 hours. Subjects in all three groups responded to the Markstrom et al. (2007) ego strength questionnaire, the Cole and Kazarian (1988) expressed emotion questionnaire, and the short form of the Raes et al. (2011) Self-Compassion Scale at the beginning and end of the study. Univariate analysis of covariance and post hoc test were used to analyze the data. The data were analyzed at a significance level of 0.05 using SPSS software version 28.
Results: The difference between the experimental and control groups in the levels of all three variables of ego strength (p<0.001), expressed emotion (p<0.001) and self-compassion (p<0.001) was significant in the post-test phase. However, short-term anxiety-modifying dynamic psychotherapy had a greater effect on ego strength (p<0.001), and emotional schema therapy was more effective in increasing expressed emotion (p<0.001). No significant difference was found between the two interventions in terms of effectiveness on the self-compassion variable (p>0.05).
Conclusion: In general, it can be concluded that short-term anxiety-modifying psychodynamic therapy is more effective on the ego strength of people with health anxiety, and emotional schema therapy is more effective in increasing their expressed emotions. Finally, these two treatments do not differ in terms of their effect on self-compassion in people with health anxiety.
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| Keywords: Ego Strength, Emotional Schema Therapy, Expressed Emotion, Health Anxiety, Self-Compassion, Short-Term Anxiety-Modifying Dynamic Psychotherapy. |
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Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Special
Received: 2025/08/17 | Accepted: 2025/12/1 | Published: 2025/12/1 | ePublished: 2025/12/1
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