فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

Background: Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) substantially disrupts emotion regulation, leading to difficulties in managing intense affect, negative self-concept, and interpersonal disturbances. It also impairs the integration of autobiographical memory, resulting in fragmented, overgeneralized, or poorly contextualized recollections of personal experiences, including both traumatic and nontraumatic events. Objectives: This study compared the efficacy of meta-emotional therapy (MET) and narrative exposure therapy (NET) in improving autobiographical memory specificity and reducing somatization among individuals with C-PTSD. Methods: A randomized pretest–posttest–follow-up study with a wait-list control group was conducted in Ahvaz, Iran, in 2025. Forty-five participants were recruited through convenience sampling in clinical settings and randomly assigned to three groups (n = 15 per group): MET, NET, and a wait-list control group. Both experimental groups received 14 sessions, each lasting 90 minutes. Data were collected using the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15). Data were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni post hoc tests. Results: Both interventions significantly improved clinical outcomes compared with those in the control group (P < 0.001). Specifically, NET demonstrated superior efficacy in enhancing autobiographical memory specificity, whereas MET was significantly more effective than NET in reducing somatization symptoms. Conclusions: Although both treatments were effective for C-PTSD, NET appeared more effective for cognitive-memory restructuring, whereas MET showed greater efficacy in alleviating somatization. These findings suggest a potential benefit of matching interventions to specific symptom profiles.