Effect of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on Body Mass Index and Self-Control in Overweight Women

Introduction: Considering the growing trend of overweight and its risk, it is necessary to find useful solutions for weight loss. Usually overweight people are involved in several treatment programs that have decent short-term effects, but the symptoms might be relapsed in long term. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on reducing body mass index and increase self-control in overweight women. Methods: This is a quasi-experimental study with pretest- posttest design and follow-up. The statistical population of this study included all overweight women referring to the Nutrition Clinic of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. The sample consisted of 30 females selected by purposeful sampling method and were randomly assigned to two experimental groups. In this study, BMI was used to assess overweight and Tangney self-control scale was used for self-control. Results: The findings indicated that the self-control in the participants in the cognitive-behavioral group were more improved in comparison to transcranial Direct Current Stimulation group (p,0.05), while tDCS was more effective than CBT on improving body mass index. Conclusion: In general, cognitive-behavioral therapy and transcranial Direct Current Stimulation with effect on the area of the brain that is associate with control perception lead to increased self-control, decreased craving and BMI.