The effectiveness of family-centered intervention using cyberspace on impulsivity in patients with bipolar disorder

Subject Areas : Thoughts and Behavior in Clinical Psychology

elham abdi ¹ , Isaac Rahimian Boogar ² , elham abdi ³ , Raheb ghorbani ⁴

1 - Department of Psychology,Semnan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Semnan Iran
2 - Associate Professor of Health Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Semnan University, Mahdishahr, Semnan, Iran.
3 - Department of Psychology,Semnan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Semnan Iran
4 - Social Factors Affecting Health Research Center, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran.

Received: 2023-03-27 Accepted : 2023-03-27 Published : 2021-06-22

Keywords: bipolar disorder, Family-centered intervention based on the Miklowitz approach, impulsivity,

Abstract :

Bipolar disorder is one of the most common mental disorders, which main characteristics are recurring periods of mania and depression. Such periods adversely affect various areas of a person’s life including cognition, emotions, relationships and life performance. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of family-centered intervention using cyberspace on the impulsivity in patients with bipolar disorder. For this purpose, during semi-experimental research with pre-test-post-test and follow-up, 30 patients with bipolar disorder referred to counseling centers and psychological services along with their family members were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly divided into two experimental and control groups. Family-centered intervention based on Miklowitz's approach using cyberspace was implemented for the experimental group and the control group was not subjected to any intervention. Subjects were tested for impulsivity before, after and two months after completing the research. The results of the variance analysis with repeated measurements showed that the family-centered intervention based on the Miklowitz approach using cyberspace is effective in the experimental group's impulsivity scores. As a result, it can be concluded that family-oriented intervention with Miklowitz approach can be effective in reducing impulsivity in bipolar disorder patients.