The Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavior Therapy on Anxiety and Worry of People with Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) on anxiety and worry of people with Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
Method: The participants were 18 students who according to the criteria for DSM-IV-TR were suffering from anxiety disorder. They were randomly selected from the people who had previously visited the counseling centers of universities in Tehran. The participants were placed in experimental and control groups following the experimental design of pre-test and post-test with a control group. The participants of both groups responded to Penn State Worry Questionnaire and Trait Anxiety Questionnaire. The experimental group received the treatment for 16 sessions. At the end of treatment period and one month after that, the participants of both groups again responded to Penn State Worry and Trait Anxiety Questionnaire again.
Results: The results showed that CBT significantly has reduced the worry and trait anxiety of the participants with Generalized Anxiety Disorder in post-test and follow up phase.
Conclusion: The results of the study show that CBT is effective in reducing symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder.