Effectiveness of Schema Therapy in Psychological Distress, Body Image, and Eating Disorder Beliefs in Patients with Anorexia Nervosa

Background and Objective: Due to the role of recognition in eating disorders, the identification of core beliefs and cognitive schemas becomes debatable. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of schema therapy in psychological distress, body image, and eating disorder beliefs in anorexic patients.Materials and Methods: This was an applied quasi-experimental study with a pretest and posttest design and control group. The statistical population of the study included patients with an eating disorder, attending the psychological, clinical psychiatric, and obesity treatment centers in Ahvaz, Iran, within the age range of 16-23 years in 2019. The subjects were selected using the purposive sampling method. In this study, the pretest (i.e., filling out the Eating Disorder Beliefs Questionnaire [EDBQ]) was performed before the schema therapy intervention. Then, the intervention was conducted on the experimental group; however, no intervention was carried out for the control group. After the termination of the treatment sessions (12 sessions of 45 min), the posttest was performed. Finally, 3 months following the termination of the treatment, the follow-up test was conducted. The data were obtained using the EDBQ, Psychological Distress Questionnaire, and Body Image Concern Inventory. The data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance and SPSS software (version 22).Results: The results of the present study showed that schema therapy led to a decrease in psychological distress (F=157.36, P<0.0001, Eta=0.89), body image concern (F=8.03, P<0.001, Eta=0.29), and eating disorder beliefs (F=13.85, P<0.0001, Eta=0.91).Conclusion: It can be concluded that schema therapy reduces psychological distress, body image concerns, and eating disorder beliefs