Effectiveness of Cognitive-behavioral Therapy on the Psychological Security and Self-care Behaviors among Diabetes Patients

Objective: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic disease that increases the possibility of mental disorders due to physical problems. Therefore, psychological interventions such as diabetes self-care activities (DSCA) can probably create positive changes in the psychological activity indicators. Also, therapists have focused on improving these patients’ psychological security (PS). Group cognitive-behavioral therapy (GCBT) is a common method for improving PS and DSCA. Methods: This quasi-experimental research aimed to explore the effectiveness of GCBT on the PS and DSCA in patients with T2DM. It was conducted with a pre-test -post-test design and a control group on 30 elderly female diabetic patients during the summer of 2023. The convenience sampling method was implemented to select subjects. They were randomly assigned into two groups (test and control) of 15 subjects. We used Maslow’s psychosocial security questionnaire and the self-care behavior questionnaire by Robert Thompson and Glasgow to collect study data. Results: The results of the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) indicated that GCBT significantly increased the PS and the DSCA in the patients with T2DM (P≤0.05). GCBT was effective in improving the PS and the DSCA of the patients with T2DM. The GCBT intervention with the protocol used in this study effectively increased PS and DSCA in patients with T2DM. Conclusion: Therefore, GCBT can be used along with drug treatments for patients with T2DM. In addition, it is recommended that planners design programs based on this research to improve the PS and the DSCA of patients with T2DM.