Effectiveness of Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment on Alexithymia and Feeling Loneliness in the Elderly

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD in Health Psychology, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran. (Corresponding author)

2 Ma of Clinical Psychology, Tehran (Hormozgan) Science and Research Branch, Hormozgan, Iran.

3 Ma of Clinical Psychology, Kish Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kish, Iran.

10.22038/mjms.2023.26135

Abstract

Introduction: The elderly face various cognitive and emotional harms due to the marriage of their children as well as physical disabilities. Accordingly the present study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment on alexithymia  and feeling loneliness in the elderly.
Methods: The current study was a semi-experimental application with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group and a two-month follow-up period. The statistical population of the present study consisted of elderly people referring to Bandar Abbas municipality cultural centers in the fall of 2022. In this research, 39 elderly were selected by purposeful sampling and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (20 elderly in the experimental group and 19 elderly in the control group). The elderly in the experimental group received the unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment during ten weeks in ten sessions. Alexithymia  Questionnaire (AQ) and Feeling Loneliness Questionnaire (FLQ) were used in the present study. The data were analyzed through mixed ANOVA via SPSS23 software.
Results:  The results showed that unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment has significant effect on the alexithymia  (F=45.81; Partial Eta=0.55; p<0.001) and feeling loneliness (F=43.58; Partial Eta=0.54; p<0.001) in the elderly.
Conclusion: Based on the findings of the research, unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment by emphasizing the adaptive and functional nature of emotions, increasing the patient's awareness of the role of cognitions and emotions and physical and behavioral feelings, investigating the role of stimuli in creating emotional experiences and recognizing behaviors derived from emotions can be as an efficient method to reduce the alexithymia  and feeling loneliness in the elderly.

Keywords

Medical Journal of Mashhad university of Medical Sciences
Volume 66, Issue 1
May and June 2023

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