Improving Emotion Regulation and Reducing Stress in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis through Emotion-Focused Therapy

Background: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) often experience significant psychological distress, including difficulties with emotion regulation and high levels of stress, which can exacerbate disease symptoms.Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) in improving cognitive emotion regulation strategies and reducing perceived stress in patients with RA.Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest control group design. The study population consisted of patients with RA referred to Shariati Hospital in Tehran, Iran, in ۲۰۲۲. A sample of ۴۰ patients who met the inclusion criteria was selected and randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = ۲۰) and a control group (n = ۲۰). The experimental group participated in eight weekly ۹۰-minute sessions of group EFT. Data were collected using the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) and the stress subscale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-۲۱). The collected data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).Results: The results indicated that after the intervention, the experimental group showed a statistically significant increase in the use of adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and a significant decrease in the use of maladaptive strategies compared to the control group (F = ۳۸.۷۲–۴۵.۸۳, P < ۰.۰۰۱, η² = ۰.۶۸–۰.۷۳). Furthermore, the participants in the EFT group reported a significant reduction in their perceived stress scores compared to the control group.Conclusion: The findings suggest that EFT is an effective psychological intervention for improving emotion regulation skills and reducing stress levels in patients with RA. Therefore, EFT may serve as a useful adjunct to standard medical care in supporting the psychological well-being of this patient population.

کلیدواژه ها:

Rheumatoid arthritis ، emotion-focused therapy ، emotion regulation ، Stress