Journal of

Background and aim: The aim of the present study was to determine the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy on Alexithymia and pain coping strategies in women with lupus.
 

Methods: The research method was semi experimental with a pretest–posttest and two–month follow–up design with a control group. The statistical population of this research included all female patients with lupus who had referred to the Lupus Association in 2024 for lupus counseling and treatment. Among the statistical population, 30 qualified volunteers were available entered into the study and randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups (each group includes 15 people). The cognitive-behavioral therapy was implemented in the experimental group as 8 sessions one a week. Data analysis of the research was conducted using repeated measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni post-hoc test at a significance level of 0.05, with SPSS software version 27.
 

Results: The results indicated that the effect of time, the effect of group, and the interaction effect of time and group on emotional distress scores and pain coping strategies were significant (p<0.001). In the intervention group, there was a significant difference in Alexithymia scores and pain coping strategies between the pre-test and post-test stages, as well as between the pre-test and follow-up (p<0.001). However, no significant difference observed between the post-test and follow-up for these variables.
 

Conclusion: This research showed that teaching the cognitive-behavioral therapy to women with lupus is suitable for improving alexithymia and pain coping strategies.