Effectiveness of Spiritual Psychotherapy on Attachment to God Among Adolescents With Conduct Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial Publisher



Salmanian M¹ ; Ghobaribonab B² ; Hooshyari Z¹ ; Mohammadi MR¹ Show Affiliations
Source: Psychology of Religion and Spirituality Published:2020

Abstract

Attachment to God can compensate for insecure attachment patterns, especially among individuals with conduct disorder. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of spiritual psychotherapy on attachment to God among adolescents with conduct disorder using the Spiritual Psychotherapy Package for Adolescents with Conduct Disorder. We conducted a randomized controlled trial with 62 adolescents with conduct disorder in a reformatory in Tehran, Iran. We compared the intervention group (N = 16) who received a 14-session intervention with a control group (N = 15). Participants were assessed at preintervention, postintervention (7 weeks later), and follow-up (1 month after completion of the intervention) using the Attachment to God Inventory. The intervention produced significant improvements on avoidance attachment to God measures compared to the control group at postintervention. Although the effect size tended to be larger at the follow-up, this difference was not statistically significant. In contrast, we did not find evidence that the intervention significantly reduced the anxious attachment to God. This was the 1st randomized controlled trial reporting the effectiveness of spiritual psychotherapy on avoidance attachment to God among adolescents with conduct disorder at postintervention compared to preintervention. However, further studies are needed to evaluate the long-term effects of the intervention using larger sample sizes. © 2020 American Psychological Association.