Comparing the Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Self-Efficacy Training on Psychological Symptoms in Anxious Female Heads of Households
Keywords:
Mindfulness, based cognitive therapy, self, efficacy, Psychological symptoms, anxiety, Women head of the householdAbstract
Objective: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) and self-efficacy training in reducing psychological symptoms among anxious female heads of households and to examine the maintenance of treatment effects over a two-month follow-up period.
Methods and Materials: This clinical trial employed a pretest–posttest–follow-up design with 45 anxious female heads of households in Tehran. Following initial screening and eligibility assessment, participants were randomly allocated to three groups of 15: MBCT, self-efficacy training, and a waiting-list control group. Each intervention group received eight 90-minute sessions. Data were collected at pretest, posttest, and follow-up using the Beck Anxiety Inventory and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R). The data were analyzed in SPSS version 26 using mixed between-within subjects analysis of variance, followed by Bonferroni-adjusted pairwise comparisons.
Findings: Mixed analysis of variance demonstrated significant time effects across all dimensions of psychological symptoms (p<.001), as well as significant between-group differences in somatization, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, aggression, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, psychoticism, and the overall psychological symptom score (p<.001). Bonferroni comparisons indicated that MBCT produced significantly greater improvements in somatization, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, interpersonal sensitivity, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism than both self-efficacy training and the control condition. Both active interventions significantly outperformed the control group in reducing depression, anxiety, aggression, phobic anxiety, and the total psychological symptom score. MBCT was significantly more effective than self-efficacy training in reducing depression, anxiety, aggression, and overall psychological symptoms, whereas the two interventions did not differ significantly in phobic anxiety. Significant treatment gains were maintained during the two-month follow-up period.
Conclusion: Both MBCT and self-efficacy training are effective interventions for improving psychological symptoms in anxious female heads of households; however, MBCT appears to provide broader and stronger therapeutic benefits, particularly for depression, anxiety, aggression, and overall psychological distress. Its sustained effects support its application in psychological and healthcare services for this vulnerable population.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Marjaneh Anvari (Author); Abdolmajid Bahrainian; Mohammadhasan Ghanifar, Fatemeh Shahabizadeh (Author)
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