Background and Aim: Today, the number of women who have lost their husbands due to divorce is increasing. Due to economic and social pressures, these women usually experience more loneliness than other women. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of schema therapy on early maladaptive schemas and loneliness in divorced women.
Methods: The present study is applied and experimental with pre-test and post-test design. Among divorced women in Tehran in 1400, 30 were selected by convenience sampling and randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups of 15 people. The experimental group was trained in 8 sessions of 90 minutes with schema therapy and the members of the control group did not receive any intervention. The groups completed the Adult Social and Emotional Loneliness Questionnaire and the Early maladaptive Schema Questionnaire as pre-test and post-test. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data.
Results:The results showed that schema therapy significantly reduced loneliness in the experimental group compared to the control group. The results also showed that schema therapy is effective in improving the initial maladaptive schemas of divorced women.
Conclusion: According to these findings, counselors and therapists can use the rules of schema therapy to rehabilitate women after divorce to increase mental health, healthy social relationships and improve maladaptive schemas.
Key words: Schema therapy, Early maladaptive schemas, Loneliness, Divorced women
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