Effectiveness of Schema Therapy in Improving Defense Mechanisms and Mental Health in Patients With Acne Vulgaris

Objective: Acne vulgaris is one of the most common dermatological conditions and is often associated with mental health issues and immature defense mechanisms. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of schema therapy in improving defense styles and mental health in patients with acne vulgaris. Methods: In a quasi-experimental design with pre-test-post-test and a ontrol group, 28 participants were selected through purposive sampling from dermatology clinics in northeastern Tehran in 2024. The participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental (n=14) or a control group (n=14). Participants completed the defense style questionnaire (DSQ-40) and symptom checklist-90 (SCL-90) before and after the intervention. The experimental group received 12 schema therapy sessions. Results: The results of the analysis of covariance showed that schema therapy significantly improved interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, and paranoid ideation (dimensions of SCL-90), as well as mature and neurotic defense styles (P<0.05). Conclusion: Schema therapy can reduce the use of neurotic defense mechanism and foster the use of mature defense mechanism in patients with acne vulgaris. It can also improve the patients’ mental health (reducing interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, and paranoid ideation).