Effectiveness of Transdiagnostic Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Rumination in Individuals with Generalized Anxiety Symptoms

Introduction: Currently, one of the common problems in societies is generalized anxiety disorder, which has symptoms such as major worry, and due to its negative consequences, the need to investigate interventions aimed at improving rumination in these individuals is felt. For this reason, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of transdiagnostic cognitive behavioral therapy on rumination in individuals with generalized anxiety symptoms. Method: The research method was a quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test type with a control group and a follow-up phase. The statistical population also included all individuals living in Mashhad (in regions 1 and 2) with generalized anxiety symptoms between the ages of 20 and 50 and with an anxiety score above 10, of whom 30 were selected through purposive sampling. In this regard, 15 people were placed in the experimental group and 15 people in the control group (randomly). The research tools were Spitzer's Generalized Anxiety Inventory (2006) and Hoeksma and Maru's Rumination Inventory (1991). Barlow's transdiagnostic cognitive behavioral therapy (2011) was implemented for 3 months in 12 sessions (one 90-minute session per week).
Result: The results of the study using the analysis of covariance with repeated measures test showed that the aforementioned treatment was able to significantly improve rumination in the experimental group. While there was no change in the control group. Therefore, it can be concluded that transdiagnostic cognitive behavioral therapy is an effective treatment for improving rumination in people with social anxiety symptoms that should be given more attention.
Discussion and Conclusion: By focusing on a person’s thoughts and beliefs about worry, cognitive behavioral therapy helps people realize that the intensity and duration of their worry are often due to negative and exaggerated thoughts. It also teaches people new skills, such as meditation, mindfulness, and emotion management. These skills help people better resist anxiety-provoking stimuli and prevent automatic, unwanted reactions. It has also been shown to reduce rumination in people with generalized anxiety disorder.