Aims Mental disorders are a common problem in combatants, veterans, and their families. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy and treatment based on acceptance and commitment to veterans’ psychosocial needs.
Materials & Methods This quasi-experimental study was conducted with a pretest-posttest design with a control group in all psychiatric veterans in Tehran in 2018. Thirty psychiatric veterans were purposefully selected and were randomly assigned to two experimental groups (10 people each) and a control group (10 people). Data were collected using the Basic Psychological Needs, Post Traumatic Stress, Acceptance, and Operation Questionnaires.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy sessions and acceptance and commitment-based therapy were held in 10 sessions, twice a week, for 90 minutes in each session for the experimental groups. Data were analyzed using SPSS 24 software and multivariate analysis of covariance and independent t-test.
Findings Cognitive-behavioral therapy could significantly affect veterans’ basic psychological needs and their components and increase the capacity of basic needs in veterans undergoing cognitive-behavioral therapy compared to the control group. Also, acceptance and commitment therapy could have a significant effect on the basic psychological needs and the component of autonomy and competence of veterans (p<0.05), but this effect was not significant on the component of communication with others (p>0.05).
Conclusion Cognitive-behavioral therapy and therapy based on acceptance and commitment affect the veterans’ basic psychological needs.