Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies

Abstract
Background & Objectives: The coronavirus disease has a major impact on the mental health and emotional well–being of the general public, as well as on the health of individuals with psychiatric disorders. Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by frequent, intrusive thoughts, urges or images, or repetitive behaviors. Contemporary cognitive models of OCD have emphasized the role of dysfunctional beliefs or evaluations in creating and maintaining specific obsessions and compulsions. Among these dysfunctional beliefs, the fusion of thought and action is one of the most widely studied. The term fusion of thought and action describes the belief that thoughts can directly affect the relevant external event, or the fusion of moral thought and action, meaning that thinking about an immoral action equals the moral and value burden of doing that action. Treatment enhancement methods for adults with OCD, such as internet–based cognitive behavioral therapy, have been less studied. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of internet–based cognitive behavioral therapy on thought–action fusion in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder caused by corona.
Methods: This quasi–experimental study employed a pretest–posttest design with a control group. Among the 25– to 40–year–old people with OCD who were referred to the psychiatric clinics of Meybod City, Iran, 30 eligible volunteers were included in the study. Then, 15 were randomly assigned to the intervention group and 15 to the control group. The scores of the Thought–Action Fusion Scale (Shafran et al., 1996) were compared before and after cognitive behavioral therapy. The inclusion criteria were as follows: having obsessive–compulsive disorder and a psychiatrist's approval, being aged between 25 to 40 years, not using other treatment methods such as behavioral therapy and drug therapy. The exclusion criteria included absence from a treatment session and not completing the questionnaire during the study. Data analysis was done using covariance analysis in SPSS 17. The significance level of the tests was 0.05.
Results: The analysis of the data showed that the score of the thought–action fusion in patients with OCD in the intervention group and after receiving treatment had decreased significantly compared to the control group (p<0.001). The results related to the effect size showed that 69% of the difference between the intervention group and the control group in the fusion of thought and action was due to the implementation of group internet–based cognitive behavioral therapy.
Conclusion: Based on the results of this research, internet–based cognitive behavioral therapy can be used as a complementary treatment to improve the fusion of thought and action in patients with OCD in post–corona.