Comparison of the Effectiveness of Group Positive Psychotherapy and Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy in the Treatment of Depressed Students

Regarding the high prevalence of depression in high school adolescents and the necessity of choosing the appropriate treatment for this group, the present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of two approaches of group positive psychotherapy and group cognitive-behavioral therapies on moderate and severe depression in high school male students in Tehran -district 6. The present study was experimental with pretest-posttest design with control group. The population consisted of all male students of second period of high school in district 6 of Tehran in the academic year of 2015-2016. Among them, 90 samples were selected using convenience sampling and taking into account the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and randomly assigned to two groups of intervention (8 sessions of group positive psychotherapy or 8 sessions of group cognitive behavioral therapy) and control group. Data were collected by Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II), Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ), and satisfaction with life scale (SWLS) and were analyzed using SPSS22 software and descriptive and inferential statistical methods such as Kruskal-Wallis, one way (ANOVA), Chi-square and Multivariate Covariance Analysis (MANCOVA). The results showed that in the group with moderate depression, there was no difference in the depression scores between the two groups of cognitive behavioral and positive psychotherapy in the post test (P=0.999), but in the severe depression group, the cognitive behavioral therapy group compared to positive psychotherapy group (P=0.018) had a greater reduction in depression score in the post-test. In the variables of life satisfaction and happiness, the positive psychotherapy group had a greater increase compared to the control group and the cognitive-behavioral group. Based on the findings of this study and considering the benefits of positive psychotherapy, this approach can be used in mild to moderate depression. Also, in the case of severe depression, a positive psychotherapy approach can be used, but given the greater effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy, its use is more justifiable.