Comparing the efficacy of emotion-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy with mindfulness based cognitive therapy on body image and cognitive fusion in adolescent girls interested in cosmetic surgery

Cosmetic surgery as a special and common form of bodybuilding culture has always been a controversial topic in contemporary society. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of emotion-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy with mindfulness based cognitive therapy on body image and cognitive fusion in adolescent girls seeking cosmetic surgery.

This was a quasi- experimental intervention study with pretest-posttest design with control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all female secondary school students in the 1st District of Tehran in the academic year 1397-98. From this community, 30 students were selected based on cluster sampling and randomly divided into three groups: 10 in the first group, 10 in the second group and 10 in the control group (8 sessions with mindfulness programs occasionally). Data were gathered through Multidimensional Self-Body Questionnaire (MBSRQ), Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire (CFQ) and multivariate analysis of covariance.

The results showed that cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness treatment were effective in improving the body image of adolescent girls seeking cosmetic surgery (P<0.05) and there was no significant difference between the two treatments (P<0.662).

Cognitive-behavioral therapy and mindfulness therapy are both effective to improve body image and reduce cognitive interference.