Comparison of the effectiveness of mindfulness therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy on negative spontaneous thoughts

The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of mindfulness-based therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy on negative future thoughts in entrance exam candidates with physical symptoms. This research was a quasi-experimental study of pre-test, and post-test design with the control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all female entrance examination candidates under the supervision and follow-up of educational counselors of Talesh City counseling centers in the period of 2020-2021, from which 45 people were selected using purposive sampling. This number was among the three intervention groups based on mindfulness, cognitive-behavioral, and control groups that were randomly replaced. Data were collected using the Negative Future Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ, Holon et al., 1980). Mindfulness-based intervention was held in 8 2-hour sessions and cognitive-behavioral intervention was conducted in 9 2-hour sessions once a week. Data were analyzed using a one-way analysis of covariance. The results showed that mindfulness-based therapy is effective in reducing negative spontaneous thoughts (p <0.05); Cognitive-behavioral therapy was also reported to be effective in reducing negative spontaneous thoughts (p <0.05). The results showed that mindfulness-based therapy intervention was significantly different from the cognitive-behavioral group in terms of effectiveness on negative future thoughts (p <0.05). It can be concluded that mindfulness-based therapy is more effective in reducing negative future thoughts in entrance exam candidates with more physical symptoms.