Abstract
Aim. The present study aimed to compare the effect of schema therapy and dialectical behavior therapy on lifestyle of women with coronary artery heart disease.
Background. Given that an unhealthy lifestyle is one of the main determinants of early onset of coronary heart disease in adulthood and its resulting mortality, the need for therapeutic interventions in this group of patients seems necessary.  
Method. This experimental study (pre-test-post-test with control group and follow-up) was conducted on women with coronary heart disease in Tehran in 2019-2020. A total of 45 female patients were selected by available sampling method and randomly allocated to two experimental group and one control group (15 people in each group). Experimental and control groups were assessed during the pre-test, post-test and one-month follow-up stages by Lali et al. (2012) lifestyle questionnaire. Eight sessions of group schema therapy (for one experimental group) and eight sessions of group dialectical behavior therapy (for another experimental group) were held (two sessions per week for 4 weeks). The data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance in SPSS V.23.
Findings. Both interventions were effective in promoting lifestyle in women with coronary heart disease (p≤0.0001). Also, group dialectical behavior therapy had a greater effect on lifestyle promotion in women with coronary heart disease compared with group schema therapy (p≤0.0001).
Conclusion. Training of the use of group dialectical behavior therapy is recommended as an effective intervention method for improving lifestyle of women with coronary heart disease.