Journal of Applied Psychological Research

Journal of Applied Psychological Research

Effectiveness of Combined Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Improving Symptoms of Depression, Rumination and Emotion Regulation in People with Major Depressive Disorder (Quasi-Experimental Study)

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Azam Sadat Madani 1
Leila Heydarinasab 2
Hojjatollah Farahani 3
Reza Rostami 4
1 Department of Clinical Psychology, Humanities Faculty, University of Shahed, Tehran, Iran.
2 Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology, Humanities Faculty, University of Shahed, Tehran, Iran.
3 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Tarbiat Modares. Tehran, Iran.
4 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Education, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran.
10.22059/japr.2026.380013.644972
Abstract
The objective of the current study was to examine the efficacy of the combination of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy and transcranial direct current stimulation in the reduction of depressive symptoms, the enhancement of emotion regulation, and the reduction of rumination in individuals with major depressive disorder. The research methodology was quasi-experimental and practical, incorporating pre- and post-tests.Eight individuals (6 women and 2 men) were selected by the available sampling procedure from the statistical population, which comprised all individuals aged 18 to 65 who visited the Atieh Clinic from March 2023 to March 2024. Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), and Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire (RRS) comprised the research instruments. The intervention consisted of 12 30-minute sessions of transcranial direct current stimulation, followed by 45 minutes of cognitive behavioral psychotherapy. SPSS 26 software and Repeated Measures aANOVA were employed to analyze the resulting data. The results indicated that the combination of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy and transcranial direct current stimulation has a substantial impact on the reduction of depression symptoms (F=45.80, P=0.001), the enhancement of emotion regulation (F=16.43, P=0.006), and the reduction of rumination (F=22.20, P=0.003) in individuals with major depression.The combination of two treatments can be employed as an effective intervention to alleviate the symptoms of major depressive disorder and its associated symptoms, as indicated by the results.
Keywords
Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy
Major Depressive Disorder
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
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Journal of Applied Psychological Research

Articles in Press, Corrected Proof
Available Online from 02 October 2026

  • Receive Date 01 August 2024
  • Revise Date 26 August 2024
  • Accept Date 02 October 2024
  • First Publish Date 28 July 2026
  • Publish Date 02 October 2026