The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Integrated Cognitive Behavior Therapy on Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in Females with Multiple Sclerosis: A Single Blind Randomized Controlled Trial

Background Previous studies have shown the effectiveness of cognitive behavior therapy in improvement of psychological symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and stress. Recent studies suggest that mindfulness-based interventions (MBI) are effective in reducing these psychological symptoms in chronic diseases. The present study was the first study to examine the effects of mindfulness-integrated cognitive behavior therapy (MiCBT) on common comorbid psychological symptoms in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Objectives The present study aimed at examining the effect of mindfulness-integrated cognitive behavior therapy on depression, anxiety, and stress in females with multiple sclerosis. Methods: This research was a quasi-experimental study conducted on female patients with MS who referred to Fars MS Society, Shiraz, Iran, in 2015. A total of 56 patients with MS were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly assigned into intervention and control groups. The intervention group received eight 2-hour sessions of MiCBT, while the control group was only given the usual treatment (TAU). The patients in both groups filled out a demographic questionnaire along with depression, anxiety and stress scales (DASS-21) in pre- and posttest. Results In the current study, no statistically significant differences were found between the study groups in demographic variables (P > 0.05). Analysis of covariance revealed significant differences between the study groups in all the 3 variables in posttest compared to the pretest. The mean scores of depression, anxiety, and stress in the MiCBT group were significantly lower than the control group (P < 0.001). The mean score of depression was 16.69 ± 7.1 in the experimental group before the intervention, which decreased to 6.17 ± 5.7 after the intervention (P < 0.001). In addition, the mean score of anxiety was 13.2 ± 7.25 in pre-intervention, which significantly reduced to 6.09 ± 5.2 in post-intervention (P < 0.001). The mean score of stress also decreased from 22.09 ± 6.07 to 10.87 ± 6.3 compared to the pretest (P < 0.001). Conclusions The results of the present study suggested that mindfulness-integrated cognitive behavior therapy is an effective and affordable treatment in reducing depression, anxiety, and stress for patients with MS.