Aims: Post-traumatic stress disorder is one of the prominent psychological consequences of war that is seen in veterans. Behavioral activation treatment as a brief intervention can target a range of disruptions of this disorder. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of brief behavioral activation treatment on the hopelessness in veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Materials and Methods: In this semi-experimental study with pre-test post-test design with control group, 40 veterans with PTSD, who were referred to Issar Ardabil psychiatric Hospital in 2017, were selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned to two groups of experimental and control. Ten behavioral activation treatment sessions were performed (one hour per session) for the experimental group. The data were collected, using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 Disorders and Beck Hopelessness Scale. Then, the data were analyzed by SPSS 23, using multiple covariance analysis.
Finding: After controlling the effect of pre-test, there was a significant difference among the mean scores of feelings about the future, lake of motivation, expectations, and total hopelessness in the experimental group and the control group (p<0.05). Also, therapeutic intervention significantly decreased the mean scores of the feelings about the future (F=14.840; p=0.001), lake of motivation (F=5.037; p=0.032), expectations (F=5.308; p=0.001), and total hopelessness (F=10.361; p=0.003).
Conclusion: Training brief behavioral activation treatment reduces hopelessness of veterans with PTSD.