Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1
Department of Psychology, Bojnourd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bojnourd, Iran.
2
Department of Clinical Psychology, Ibn-e-Sina Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
3
Assistant professor of Social Sciences, Psychology and Counseling, Khayyam University, Mashhad, Iran
10.22038/jfmh.2024.76456.3098
Abstract
Introduction: Depression is a common psychological disorder in the society. Regardless of various treatments, depression remained as a therapeutic challenge in psychology. One of the recommended new methods for depression treatment is mindfulness. So far, comprehensive studies have not been published regarding the effectiveness and mechanism of the effect of mindfulness on depression. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness therapy on cognitive avoidance, rumination and emotional regulation in depressed individuals.
Materials and methods: This clinical trial was conducted on patients who were diagnosed with depression and referred to the Psychological and Counseling Clinic of the Academic Center for Education, Culture, and Research, Mashhad Branch. Participants were randomly divided into experimental (mindfulness treatment in 8 sessions) and control (no treatment) groups. The Beck depression inventory, ruminative response style (RRS), cognitive regulation (ERQ), and cognitive avoidance (CAQ) questionnaires as well as structured clinical interview for mental disorders SCID-5CV were completed for all participants at the beginning and end of the study.
Results: After controlling for the effect of the pre-test score, a significant difference was found in the mean scores of cognitive avoidance (p<0.001), emotional regulation (p<0.001) and rumination (p<0.001) between the experimental and control groups. In other words, the intensity of cognitive avoidance, emotional regulation and rumination improved more in the experimental group participants than in the controls.
Conclusions: Mindfulness therapy can be an effective method treating depression. Mindfulness can probably affect depression and its symptoms through rumination reduction and emotional control improvement.
Keywords
Main Subjects
)