Comparison of the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and short-term solution-focused therapy on the psychological well-being and sense of mental coherence of teenage girls with heart disease

In addition to physical problems, attention should also be paid to the psychological problems of patients with cardiac diseases. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) and short-term solution-focused therapy (SSFT) on psychological well-being and sense of mental coherence in patients with heart disease.

The method of this study was semi-experimental with pre-test, post-test and follow up with the control group. The population of this study consisted of all female students with heart disease studying in the second secondary school of Jolfa City in the academic year 2021-2022. In total, 45 female students were selected by purposive sampling method, who were randomly divided into three groups (Each group 15 people). Members of both experimental groups received their treatment, respectively, in 8 and 6 sessions of 1.5 hours; however, the control group did not receive any treatment. Measuring instruments were Ryff's psychological well-being (1980) and Flensberg's sense of coherence (2006) questionnaires. Analysis was done by repeated measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni post hoc test.

In the pre-test, mean and standard deviation of psychological well-being score and sense of mental coherence were not significantly different in the experimentals and control groups (p>0.05). Both treatments increased psychological well-being and sense of mental coherence in patient after the test, compared to the control group (p<0.001). In the follow-up phase, the effect of these two treatments was lasting (p<0.001). The effect of these two treatments on psychological well-being and sense of mental coherence at posttest and follow-up was not different (p>0.05).

It seems that these two therapies can increase the acceptance of the disease in heart patients, so they can probably be considered as a useful treatment strategy to improve the mental status of heart patients