Comparing the Effects of Emotion Regulation Training and Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy on the Resilience and Self-compassion of Women With Irritable Bowel Syndrome

The present study aims to compare the effects of emotion regulation training and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) on the resilience and self-compassion of women with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

This is a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test/post-test/follow-up design. The study population consists of 300 women with IBS who visited the clinics of internal medicine physicians in Ilam, Iran, in 2018-2019. The sample size was determined 20 for each group based on the Fleiss method. Therefore, 60 were selected by a simple cluster sampling method and based on the entry criteria. They were divided into three groups of emotion regulation (n=20), MBCT (n=20), and control (n=20). After the interventions, the post-test and follow-up assessments were conducted for the groups. The instruments were the Connor-Davidson resilience scale and the self-compassion scale of Neff (2003). For data analysis, SPSS software, version 23 and repeated measures analysis of variance were used.

Both emotion regulation training and MBCT had a significant effect on the resilience and self-compassion of women (P=0.001), where MBCT had a greater effect compared to emotional regulation training.

The MBCT can be used as an effective method to increase resilience and self-compassion of women with IBS.