Comparing Effectiveness of “Schema Therapy” and “Mindfulness- Based Cognitive Therapy” on Maladaptive Schemas and General Health in Patients with Vitiligo

Patients with vitiligo often have aesthetic, cognitive, and psychological challenges that create adverse social and psychological effects for these patients. The purpose of this study was comparing effectiveness of “Schema Therapy" and “Mindfulness- Based Cognitive Therapy” on maladaptive schemas and general health in patients with Vitiligo. The present study was a semi-experimental pre-test and post-test design. The statistical population included all patients with vitiligo disorder referring to the skin clinic of AL Zahra Hospital in Isfahan. 24 patients were selected by convenience sampling method. Subjects were then randomly assigned into three groups: “Schema Therapy" and “Mindfulness- Based Cognitive Therapy” and control. For intervention, the patients undergoing “Mindfulness- Based Cognitive Therapy” group training were trained for 9 sessions and 8 weeks for the intervention of the patients in the "Schema Therapy" group. Data was collected by “General Health Questionnaire" and the “Young's Schema Questionnaire-Short Form”. Then the validity and reliability were measured. Data was analyzed by SPSS 21. The results of covariance analysis showed that there is a difference between maladaptive schemas and general health between the “Schema-therapy” and “Mindfulness- Based Cognitive Therapy” and control group. Comparison of the results showed that scores differences between schema therapy group and control group were significant. In addition, there was a significant difference between the scores of “Mindfulness- Based Cognitive Therapy” and control group (P≤0.05). However, there was no significant difference between the two groups of “SchemaTherapy” and “Mindfulness- Based Cognitive Therapy”. SchemaTherapy, “Mindfulness- Based Cognitive Therapy” is considered as two effective therapies for reducing maladaptive schemas and promoting health of patients with vitiligo. Therefore, therapists and practitioners can use the results of this research to reduce internal conflicts and inefficient schemas of their skin patients.