The Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Cognitive Emotion Regulation in Individuals with Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy on cognitive emotion regulation in individuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The research design was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest and follow-up design including a control group. The statistical population consisted of all individuals diagnosed with GAD who referred to psychology and psychiatry clinics in Urmia city during the period of 2025-2026. A sample of 30 participants (15 in the experimental group and 15 in the control group) was selected from the statistical population through purposive sampling and assigned to experimental and control groups. Cognitive behavioral therapy was administered to the experimental group across 16 sessions, each lasting 50 minutes, whereas the control group was placed on a waiting list.The research instruments included the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Garnefski & Kraaij, 2006) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (Spitzer et al., 2006). Data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance with SPSS-26 software. The results indicated that cognitive behavioral therapy had a significant effect on cognitive emotion regulation in the post-test and follow-up stages. The findings of this study provide useful information regarding cognitive emotion regulation, and psychologists and psychiatrists can use this intervention to improve cognitive emotion regulation in patients with GAD.