Effectiveness of transactional analysis intervention on treatment acceptance, primary maladaptive schema, and interpersonal problems in patients under methadone maintenance treatment

Abstract

Background: Since addiction is a common problem in the general population, successful addiction treatment requires multidimensional and long-term interventions. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Transactional Analysis on primary maladaptive schemas, interpersonal problems, and treatment acceptance in patients under Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) Methods: This study was quasi-experimental with a pretest, posttest, and a control group. Twenty-four male MMT patients were selected from an outpatient addiction clinic and randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups, but due to attrition, each group included 11 patients. The data were collected by the Young Schema Questionnaire–Short Form Version 3 (YSQ-S3), Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-32 (IIP-32), and the Stages of Change, Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale (SOCRATES). The intervention group underwent ten sessions of Transactional Analysis intervention, and the data were analyzed using aanalysis of variance (ANOVA) Results: The results revealed that Transactional Analysis intervention significantly influenced interpersonal problems and readiness for treatment. The mean scores of Abandonment in the control group, Vulnerability to harm, and Entitlement in the intervention group were significantly different, but other variables did not differ significantly Conclusion: Transactional Analysis Intervention can positively influence interpersonal problems and readiness for treatment in patients under MMT. © 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.