Meta-analysis of the effectiveness of mindfulness-based treatments for depression and anxiety (research studies in Iran from 1380 to 1395)

Introdution: Depression and anxiety are the most common psychiatric disorders. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of various therapies in order to improve the therapeutic methods. In this regard, this research aimed to examine the effectiveness of mindfulness-based treatments on depression and anxiety, based on research studies in Iran from 1380 to 1395. Meta-analysis method was employed in this research and a total of 38 publications were selected after a careful study of large number of articles and research studies by using databases such as SID, Magiran, Irandoc, Civilica, Ricest, Noormags and Ensani.ir. Moreover, a checklist was used to check inclusion criteria and extracted data from each study and finally 59 effect sizes were reported. The comprehensive meta analysis software (CMA-2) was used to analyze the collected data. The results showed that mindfulness-based treatments had been effective for depression and anxiety at significant level less than 0.05. The size of the combined effect for depression and anxiety in terms of scale correlation were reported 0.574 and 0.607, in terms of scale standardized mean difference 1.427 and 1.554 and in terms of scale Hedge's g 1.389 and 1.511, respectively. In addition, study of gender as a moderating variable has not shown significant difference. The results of this meta-analysis showed that mindfulness-based therapies by using techniques such as paying attention to the present time and accepting without judgment emotions significantly and with high effect size improved the symptoms of depression and anxiety.