The Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy on Quality of Life and Subjective Well-Being in Individuals with Major Depressive Disorder
Keywords:
Cognitive-behavioral group therapy, quality of life, subjective well-being, major depressive disorderAbstract
ABSTRACT
The present study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral group therapy on quality of life and subjective well-being in individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder. This was a quasi-experimental study employing a pretest-posttest design with a two-month follow-up and a control group. The statistical population consisted of individuals with major depressive disorder who attended counseling centers, psychological service clinics, and mental health centers in Tehran in 2026. Following initial screening, eligible participants completed the World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL) and the Keyes and Magyar-Moe Subjective Well-Being Questionnaire. Subsequently, 30 participants were selected through purposive sampling and randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n = 15) or the control group (n = 15). The experimental group received cognitive-behavioral group therapy based on the cognitive therapy model for depression developed by Beck, Rush, Shaw, and Emery across eight 90-minute sessions, whereas the control group received no intervention during this period. Data were analyzed using the independent-samples t-test, Fisher’s exact test, and two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) in SPSS version 26. The results indicated that the experimental and control groups did not differ significantly in terms of demographic characteristics. Furthermore, the findings of the two-way repeated-measures ANOVA demonstrated that the interaction effect of group and time was significant for both quality of life and subjective well-being. Comparison of mean scores showed that quality of life and subjective well-being increased from the pretest to the posttest phase in the experimental group, and these improvements remained largely stable at the two-month follow-up. In contrast, no substantial changes were observed in the control group. Based on the findings, cognitive-behavioral group therapy can enhance quality of life and subjective well-being among individuals with major depressive disorder. Therefore, the implementation of this intervention in counseling centers, psychological clinics, and mental health settings may be beneficial for modifying negative thoughts, reducing behavioral withdrawal, increasing engagement in pleasurable and meaningful activities, strengthening social interactions, and improving life satisfaction and psychological well-being among individuals with depression.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Seyed Emad Hosseini , Parmida Anbarzadeh , Sahar Heidari (Author); Mounes Mansouri
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