The effectiveness of Schema Therapy in decrease anger and hostility among male veterans with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder

Introduction: Since the significant impact on anger and hostility is caused by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on various aspects of individual, family, social, and vocational life of those who suffer from this disorder, it is necessary to target and cure these two devastating symptoms.The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Schema therapy in decrease anger and hostility among male veterans with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder..

Methods: In a semi experimental research 24 male war veterans among veterans with chronic PTSD in Kermanshah Province in 2014 participated in this study. The participants were selected according to the convenient sampling and randomly assigned into experimental and group control. The data were collected by The Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Military (PCL-M) and anger and hostility subscales from Buss & Perry aggression questionnaire. Then, the sessions of schema therapy were conducted for the experimental group in 1 hour a week for 14 weeks. Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance, with 0.95 confidence level and IBM SPSS 22 software was used for data process.

Results: The multivariate analysis of covariance showed that the mean scores of the experimental group comparing to the control group was significantly decreased in anger and hostility (P<0.05).

Conclusion: With regard to the negative consequences of anger and hostility in family, social and vocational relations in veterans with PTSD, effectiveness schema therapy can be used to reduce the symptoms of anger and hostility.