Abstract

Despite an increased focus on addiction treatment in Iran, but many addicts cannot successfully pass this stormy period and many of them experience relapse. One of the most important factors that results in addiction recurrence is non- physical consequences. Anxiety and hopeless are two most important psychological consequences of addiction. Today, in addition to traditional therapies, some newer psychological treatments have been introduced that they seem promising either in improving the negative emotions and strengthening the positive emotions. Positive intervention is one of the newest of them. Since lack of studies in effectiveness of this method in alleviating non-physical consequences of addiction, this study was conducted. This research aimed to investigate the effect of positive intervention in improving anxiety and hopelessness among addicts under treatment. Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, of one hundred addicts receiving treatment at one treatment addiction camp in Iran, thirty people who had lower scores in Snyder hope scale and Beck anxiety questionnaires(BID) were selected and then they were divided to test group (fifteen) and control group (fifteen), non-randomly. The experimental group received positive intervention while the control group did not. After that both groups were tested again. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney were used in SPSS-20. Results: After intervention, test group showed significant difference in hope rather control group. Also, test group scores in anxiety reduced after intervention, significantly. Conclusion: Due to the effectiveness of positive intervention in improvement of hopelessness and anxiety in addicts during treatment, it is recommended to consider it in addiction therapeutic protocols. Besides, because of impact of positive intervention in addiction rehabilitation through intermediaries such as happiness, peace, forgiveness ,etc., it is probable that this intervention can be effective in reducing the relapse. Of course, more research is needed to investigate this claim.

Keywords: Positive intervention, Psychological consequences of addiction, Hopeless, Anxiety, Addicts under treatment.

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