Effectiveness of cognitive behavioral and spiritual trainings on improving mental health of HIV positive drug addicts

Abstract

Background: HIV positive drug addict are in need of extensive social support to be able to fight against the destructive effects of this disease including the resulting mental and physical problems. Objectives: The present research has been designed to study the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral trainings with an emphasis on spirituality to improve the mental health of this group of individuals in the society. Patients and Methods: This research was semi-experimental with pre-test and post-test design and control group. The statistical population included all 300 HIV positive drug addicted males who had referred to the health center, located west of Tehran, during 2009. 30 out of 300 individuals were randomly selected as a sample group. They were divided into two groups: 15 in the experimental and 15 in the control. The experimental group participated in a cognitive-behavioral and spiritual training program (8 sessions each 90 minutes, per week). In order to study the effect of the treatment; a questionnaire of life quality measurement from the Medical Outcomes Study HIV Health Survey (MOS-HIV) was used. This questionnaire was validated (with one-month time interval) through a retesting method (Cronbach's Alpha 0.70). The sample group completed the questionnaire at two stages, pre-education and post-education programs. The data was analyzed by the t-test to compare the mean differences of mental and physical health in experimental and control groups. Results: The result of the present research showed that cognitive-behavioral trainings with an emphasis on spirituality were effective for improving quality of life, regarding general aspects of mental and physical health, sub-scales of general health, physical performance, the performance of role, physical pain, social performance, energy, stress and, cognitive performance of HIV positive drug addicts (P < 0.01). Conclusions: It can be concluded that cognitive-behavioral and spiritual training was effective for the improvement of mental health of HIV positive drug addicts. © 2013, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciencces.