The effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy on emotion regulation and coping strategies of women with somatic symptom

BACKGROUND: Somatic symptoms and related disorders are prevalent phenomena in the healthcare system. As the clinical observations have shown the relation of these symptoms with emotions and cognitive distortions, the present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy (EF...

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Main Authors: Moloud Sivandian, Hajar Falahzade
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2025-05-01
Series:Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jehp.jehp_1358_23
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author Moloud Sivandian
Hajar Falahzade
author_facet Moloud Sivandian
Hajar Falahzade
author_sort Moloud Sivandian
collection DOAJ
description BACKGROUND: Somatic symptoms and related disorders are prevalent phenomena in the healthcare system. As the clinical observations have shown the relation of these symptoms with emotions and cognitive distortions, the present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy (EFT) on emotion regulation and coping strategies in women with somatic symptoms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this semi-experimental, two-group pretest-posttest phases study the sample consisted of 30 women with somatic symptoms aged between 20 and 60 years in the spring of 2023, who were selected through purposive sampling and randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. To assess the research variables, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ), Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-I), Garnefski and Kraaij’s Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and Lazarus and Folkman’s Coping Strategies Questionnaire were used in both pretest and posttest phases. The EFT group received treatment for 12 sessions, while the control group remained on a waiting list. The data were analyzed using SPSS 23 software and covariance analysis. RESULTS: The results indicated that EFT improved emotion regulation and coping strategies in women with somatic symptoms in the posttest (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Based on the findings of this study, it appears that EFT can be used as a psychological treatment to improve emotion regulation and coping strategies in women with somatic symptoms.
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spelling doaj-art-6cbbc45befe447d4aabc145323bc0e9d2025-08-20T02:32:16ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsJournal of Education and Health Promotion2277-95312319-64402025-05-0114120520510.4103/jehp.jehp_1358_23The effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy on emotion regulation and coping strategies of women with somatic symptomMoloud SivandianHajar FalahzadeBACKGROUND: Somatic symptoms and related disorders are prevalent phenomena in the healthcare system. As the clinical observations have shown the relation of these symptoms with emotions and cognitive distortions, the present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy (EFT) on emotion regulation and coping strategies in women with somatic symptoms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this semi-experimental, two-group pretest-posttest phases study the sample consisted of 30 women with somatic symptoms aged between 20 and 60 years in the spring of 2023, who were selected through purposive sampling and randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. To assess the research variables, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ), Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-I), Garnefski and Kraaij’s Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and Lazarus and Folkman’s Coping Strategies Questionnaire were used in both pretest and posttest phases. The EFT group received treatment for 12 sessions, while the control group remained on a waiting list. The data were analyzed using SPSS 23 software and covariance analysis. RESULTS: The results indicated that EFT improved emotion regulation and coping strategies in women with somatic symptoms in the posttest (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Based on the findings of this study, it appears that EFT can be used as a psychological treatment to improve emotion regulation and coping strategies in women with somatic symptoms.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jehp.jehp_1358_23coping strategiesemotion regulationemotion-focused therapysomatic symptom
spellingShingle Moloud Sivandian
Hajar Falahzade
The effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy on emotion regulation and coping strategies of women with somatic symptom
Journal of Education and Health Promotion
coping strategies
emotion regulation
emotion-focused therapy
somatic symptom
title The effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy on emotion regulation and coping strategies of women with somatic symptom
title_full The effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy on emotion regulation and coping strategies of women with somatic symptom
title_fullStr The effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy on emotion regulation and coping strategies of women with somatic symptom
title_full_unstemmed The effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy on emotion regulation and coping strategies of women with somatic symptom
title_short The effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy on emotion regulation and coping strategies of women with somatic symptom
title_sort effectiveness of emotion focused therapy on emotion regulation and coping strategies of women with somatic symptom
topic coping strategies
emotion regulation
emotion-focused therapy
somatic symptom
url https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/jehp.jehp_1358_23
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