Effect of Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy on Cognitive Emotion Regulation, Psychosomatic Symptom Severity of Migraine, and Stress Coping Styles of Women with Migraine

The present study aims to examine the effect of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) on cognitive emotion regulation, psychosomatic symptom severity of migraine, and stress coping styles of women with migraine.

This is a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test and post-test design. The study population consisted of all women suffering from migraine referred to neurologists in Khorramabad city, Iran in 2022.  Of these, 32 were selected by a convenience sampling method and randomly divided into two groups of intervention (n=16) and control (n=16). Garnefski’s cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire, Najarian’s psychosomatic symptoms of migraine questionnaire, and Billings and Moss’s stress coping styles questionnaire were used to collect data. The MBCT was provided to the intervention group for 8 consecutive weeks, one session per week. The data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).

The results of multivariate ANCOVA showed that MBCT significantly affected at least one of the variables (F=14.406, P<0.01). The results of univariate ANCOVA showed that MBCT had a significant effect on cognitive emotion regulation strategies (F=60.7, P<0.01), the severity of migraine (F=53.46, P<0.01),  and stress coping styles (F=18.5, P=0.03) in the post-test phase.

MBCT is effective in improving cognitive emotion regulation strategies, reducing the psychosomatic symptom severity of migraine, and improving stress coping styles of women with migraine. By this method, women learn how to use cognitive methods and mindfulness techniques to stop the automatic processes that cause a deficiency in positive emotion regulation, intensify migraine, and avoid the use of adaptive stress coping styles.