Effectiveness of Unified Transdiagnostic Therapy on Cognitive Emotion Regulation, Experimental Avoidance and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Veterans

Aims Surviving a war while other friends are dying or seriously injured is one of life’s most painful experiences, which can lead to physical, cognitive, and emotional reactions. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of unified transdiagnostic therapy on cognitive emotion regulation, experimental avoidance, and diagnostic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans. Materials & Methods This was a quasi-experimental study with a two-group design of experiments and controls with pre-test and post-test, which was carried out on all veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder in Mashhad city in 2020-2021. Thirty-two people were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to two 16-person experimental and control groups. The subjects filled out the cognitive emotion regulation, experimental avoidance, and post-traumatic stress disorder questionnaires before and after the intervention. The intervention was performed by the first author in twelve 90-minutes sessions on Tuesdays at the Rayan Mehr Golshan Clinic in Mashhad. Data were analyzed using SPSS 23 software through multivariate analysis of covariance. Findings There was a significant difference between all components of cognitive emotion regulation, experimental avoidance, and diagnostic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in experimental and control groups (p <0.05). Conclusion Transdiagnostic therapy is effective on cognitive regulation of emotion, experimental avoidance, and reduction of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans with a disability.