The Effect of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy on Social Coping of Crack Abusers

Background : Regarding the high prevalence of drug abuse in the society, the study aims at analyzing the effect of the group therapy on the social adjustment of the crack addicted patients who are under the maintenance treatment.
Materials and Methods : The semi-experimental study was conducted on 24 crack addicted patients who had been selected using random sampling method. They were divided into two 12-member groups of control and case. The general Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) (as pretest and post-test) was used to homogenizing the two groups. Bell Adjustment Inventory was used to examine the impact of group therapy on subject’s social adjustment. p<0.05 was considered significant.
Results : The control and case groups enjoy a similar condition before starting treatment process. The results showed that after the treatment the average scores of the case group in social adjustment and general health dimensions became less than that before treatment (p=0.0001). No significant relationship was found among history of crack abuse, times the patient had quitted the drug, education level, age, marital status and the social adjustment.
Conclusion : The group therapy as a psychological treatment is effective to improve crack addicted people social adjustment and also their general health condition.