Effectiveness of Mindfulness based Cognitive Therapy on Anxiety and Depression of Divorce Women

Aim and Background:

In terms of legal, divorce is the last stage of marriage, but in terms of psychology, it is the beginning of a new stage of marriage. Divorce is a phenomenon that can have significant negative consequences. One of the consequences of divorce is depression and anxiety caused by divorce, which is more common among women. The Instruction of Mindfulness based Cognitive Therapy is one of the applications for increasing the adjustment and reducing negative emotions such as depression and anxiety. The purpose of this study is to investigate the Mindfulness based Cognitive Therapy on Anxiety and Depression of Divorce Women in Neyshabur.

Methods and Materials:

The present study was a semi-experimental with pretest, posttest and follow-up with control group design. The sample consisted of 24 divorced women in the city of Neyshabur that were randomly selected assigned into two experimental (12 people) and control groups (12 people). The experimental group received the Cognitive Based Mindfulness Therapy in 8 sessions. The control group was on the waiting list. The control group was on the waiting list. The research questionnaires were Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Anxiety Inventory.

The analysis of ANCOVA showed that the mean scores of depression and anxiety symptoms were significantly different between two groups (p <0.01) after the pre-test adjustment. The experimental group after receiving the Cognitive Based Mindfulness Therapy shows lower depression and anxiety symptoms. The results of the follow-up stage also show that the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy has been stable over time.

Regarding the findings, it can be said that Cognitive Based Mindfulness Therapy reduces negative emotions such as depression and anxiety in divorced women by performing activities such as outbreaks and mourning, and prepare them to continue their life.