In this study, matching techniques (based on age) were used to select the experimental group participants. Pairs with an age difference of less than five years were acceptable. A total of 70 participants, including 60 male and 10 female
patients, who met the inclusion criteria were identified by reviewing medical records. Of this female group, four refused to take part due to feeling reluctant to receive the telephone followup sessions; six were not discharged as scheduled
due to family problems and thus the telephone follow-up sessions could not be initiated. The participants were divided into control andexperimental groups with each group consisting of 30 participants. However, five participants in the control group exhibited deteriorating psychotic symptoms and were subsequently excluded. Thus, the total sample size was fiftyfive, consisting of 30 participants in the experimental group and 25 in the control group. All participants were male.