Introduction and purpose: Cognitive-behavioral stress management refers to a group of stress management interventions with a cognitive-behavioral approach. The aim of this study is to determine the effectiveness of group-based cognitive-behavioral stress management in improvement of life quality of women whose husbands take methadone in their treatments.
Methods:  This semi-experimental intervention was conducted on all the women whose husbands were receiving methadone treatment in Tasmim Addiction Treatment Center in Khoramabad, Iran, 2013. Of all the participants, 24 women were randomly selected, and then were divided into experimental and control groups. World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire was completed by the subjects in two per-test and post-test phases. Moreover, 10 two-hour sessions of group-based cognitive-behavioral stress management therapy were conducted on the experimental group. To analyze the data univariate ANCOVA was run using SPSS 18.
Results: In post-test, the mean quality of life score of the experimental group was significantly greater than that of the control group. In other words, cognitive-behavioral stress management improved life quality in the intervention group.
Conclusion: Given the results of the present study, the cognitive-behavioral stress management can be used as a selective therapy for life quality promotion among the wives of addicts.