The effectiveness of mindfulness- based cognitive therapy on Alexithymia and cognitive impairment in women with Depressive disorder

Depressive disorder is associated with various consequences such as Alexithymia and Cognitive impairment, whichtheir elimination is of importance.

The aim of the present researchwas to evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness- based cognitive therapy on alexithymia and cognitive impairment in women with depressivedisorder.

The present researchwas an experimental study (pre-test and post-test) with a one-month follow-up. The statistical population included all women with depression (2018) in Khoram Abad. Thirty women referred to Siddiq Psychiatric Clinic in Khorramabad, who had received a diagnosis of major depression based on psychiatristchr('39')s diagnosis and researcher’s clinical interview, were selected by purposeful sampling methodas a research sample and randomly divided into two experimental and controlgroups with 15 participants in each group. Beck Depression questionnaire (BDI-II), Alexithymia questionnaire (TAS-20), Cognitive impairment questionnaire (CFQ) were used to measure the variables. The experimental group received Segal, Williams and Tizdel (2000) mindfulness- based cognitive therapy (MBCT) for 8 sessions of 2 hours, while the control group did not receive any intervention. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data.

The results showed that mindfulness- based cognitive therapy has lead to reduce alexithymia and cognitive impairmentand these results were maintained in the follow- up phase (P = 0.000).

Mindfulness- based cognitive therapy is effective in reducing alexithymia and cognitive impairment in women with depression and can be considered in addition to medication interventions.