The Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Training on the Recognition of Emotional States and Social Cognition in Methamphetamine Abusers

Abstract

Background: One of the significant problems in human societies that has existed for a long time — and whose dangers have become more evident today — is the issue of addiction. Unfortunately, this problem has assumed more serious dimensions in our communities. One of the challenges faced by methamphetamine abusers is a disorder in emotion regulation, social cognition, and recognition of emotional states. Objectives: In this regard, the purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of emotion regulation training on the recognition of emotional states and social cognition in methamphetamine abusers. Patients and Methods: This research is classified as applied in terms of purpose and quasi-experimental in terms of design, using a pre-test and post-test format with a control group. The study sample consisted of 30 methamphetamine abusers who referred to the TC treatment center (TC) of the Baran Institute in Tabriz in 2024. Sampling was done purposefully, and 15 individuals were randomly assigned to the experimental group and 15 to the control group. To collect data, Bakker's Emotional Processing Questionnaire (2007) and Chen and Lin's Social Cognition Questionnaire (2019) were used. A pre-test was administered to both groups, after which the experimental group received an emotion regulation training protocol over 8 sessions. The research hypotheses were tested using the univariate covariance method. Results: The research findings confirmed the hypotheses and indicated that emotion regulation training had a positive and significant effect on the recognition of emotional states and social cognition in methamphetamine abusers, increasing the levels of these variables (P < 0.05). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that emotion regulation training improved the recognition of emotional states and social cognition in methamphetamine abusers. Therefore, by offering effective strategies in this area, meaningful steps can be taken to reduce the problems faced by drug abusers.