The Effctiveness of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Depression and Emotion Regulation Strategies in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Psychological problems of chronic patients, especially M.S, that often are ignored, need special attention to proper treatment. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of cognitive therapy based on mind-awareness on depression and emotional adjustment strategies in patients with M.S.

The research was semi-experimental with a pre-posttest and control group. The statistical population included all male and female patients with M.S who referred to Emamreza Dental Hospital in Kermanshah in 2016. A sample of 40 people was selected and randomly assigned into two groups of experimental and control. The research instruments included anxiety-depression questionnaire and cognitive-emotional regulation questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS-22 and descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA).

The results of this study showed that cognitive therapy based on mind-awareness could reduce the mean depression scores of the experimental group compared to the control group (Eta = 0.698, P = 0.002, F = 24.47). Also, the results showed that Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy significantly decreased the mean scores of maladaptive strategies of self-blame (P = 0.001, F = 13.43), others-blame (P = 0.004, F = 17.31), catastrophizing (P = 0.005, F = 14.13), and rumination (P = 0.012, F = 11.10), as well as an increase in the average scores of adaptive strategies of acceptance (P = 0.001, F= 14.00), positive refocusing (P = 0.012, F = 11.10), refocus on planning (P = 0.001, F = 12.97), positive reappraisal (P = 0.008, F = 13.88), and putting into perspective (P = 0.002, F = 16.58) in the experimental group is associated with the control group (P < 0.05).

The results of this study suggested that using counseling centers, health clinics, and M.S. associations throughout the country to increase the emotion regulation and reduce depression of patients with multiple sclerosis using mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.